Empty Love
by student.of.the.game
Summary: What if Ichigo had died the first time Ulquiorra fought him and Ishida and Chad were never rescued by Soul Society? If Rukia and Renji had never followed them into Hueco Mundo? Main pairing- UlquiHime (Ulquiorra Cifer x Orihime Inoue)
1. Chapter 1

The woman was asleep in the cell when Kurosaki Ichigo, Sado Yatsutora and Uryuu Ishida entered Hueco Mundo. Her captor sensed the change in the reiatsu of Hueco Mundo almost instantly, as did Sosuke Aizen. Calmly, Ulquiorra walked of the throne room, and knelt at the base of the granite throne that Aizen sat on. "Aizen-sama, Kurosaki Ichigo and his two accomplices have entered Hueco Mundo. What will you have me do?" He asked, emotionless.

"Nothing, for now. Thank you for seeing me, though I felt them as soon as they entered, as you did. I will call a meeting in an hour, please, bring the girl."  
"Certainly." Ulquiorra replied as he rose and left the throne room. Calmly, he walked to the woman's cell. He passed no other Espada on his way.

He reached her cell quickly, and opened the door. The woman was asleep, and he spoke, "Woman. Wake up."

Orihime woke at the cold voice of her captor. Half-asleep still, his cold eyes watched as she cleared the sleep from her eyes and her mind. "Your...friends, are here to try to take you back to the living world. They will not succeed. Aizen-sama has called a meeting in an hour, where we will discuss how to proceed. You will attend."  
Orihime let out a small noise of strangled joy and fear as Ulquiorra left her. Hope, something she had not felt in days, coursed through her. Surely, Kurosaki-kun could save her. He was so strong, nothing could beat him. Right? The cold tang of fear tainted her joy as she thought of the reiatsus she could sense throughout the castle. She knew that the Espada habitually controlled their reiatsu, on Aizen's request, to avoid causing her discomfort. Ulquiorra had explained it to her when she had arrived and she had asked why the Espada seemed to resent her so much. Still, she was sure that Ichigo could save her...

-

Ulquiorra used sonido to return to his own palace before the meeting. Running a hand through his hair, he decide to shower, and stripped in his bathroom. He knew that either Aizen, Gin or possibly Szayel likely had cameras in his room, but he didn't care. The cameras were a fact of life in Las Noches, and most of the Espada had given up caring. He didn't care enough to possess much for modesty, anyway.

His body was lean and hard, with defined muscles running under his skin. While they were not bulky, like some of the Espada's, when he stretched they stood out on his skin. The black number 4 on his chest contrasted sharply with his pale skin, as did his dark emerald eyes. Calmly, he removed his helmet, swaying slightly as a rush of power left his body. Without his helmet, the symbol of his Hollow strength, he could not access much of his strength. An Arrancar's mask, like a Vizard's, could be removed and summoned at will, and could not be removed without excessive force when it was on by anyone but the wearer. Unlike the Vizard, the mask of an Arrancar was worn more often then not. Indeed, it took a reasonable degree of strength to remove it at all.

Ulquiorra stepped into the pounding, cold water of his shower and emotionlessly washed himself. After a few minutes, he stepped out and, dripping water on the white floor of his bathroom, dried himself and dressed. Finally, he summoned back his mask began walking to the the woman's cell. He left in plenty of time, in order to deal with any thoughts of resistance she might be entertaining.

-

Orihime resentfully brushed her long hair and dressed, unaware of the cameras Szayel, Gin and Aizen had all set up in her cell. She looked out the window, waiting for the inevitable change in her friend's reiatsu that would come when they began fighting. Fear clenched her heart as doubt continued to taunt her. When she compared even the tightly controlled reiatsu that the Arrancar displayed around her to that of her friends, she began to fear even more. Finally, she finished preparing for the meeting, and sat at the edge of her bed, waiting for Ulquiorra to take her to the meeting.

-

Ulquiorra opened the door to the woman's cell, watching her dispassionately as she stood. He could sense the fear and doubt in her friends' strength battling with the hope of her rescue. It all played out so obviously on her face, her emotions obvious to any who could see. Silently, she walked to his side as he began to stride towards the meeting room. Her legs were weak from days of enclosure, and he stopped occasionally, never turning to look at her until she caught up to his back. Finally, they reached the meeting room. Ulquiorra sensed Harribel, Nnoitra, Yammy, Grimmjow, Aaroniero and Zommari already waiting. Starrk would be slightly late, as always, and Barragan would be very late in his attempt to show his own disregard for Aizen's rules. He was still unaware that the meeting was deliberately scheduled to take his rudeness into account. Szayel he could already feel not far behind him.

Ulquiorra opened the door, sitting in his customary place near the front of the table. The woman sat in between him and an empty seat. Szayel strode into the room, settling down beside the woman. Ulquiorra could feel her fear as she sensed the Espada of Madness's interest in her. Szayel leaned forward and watched her for a minute while she trembled, desperately trying to conceal her fear. The pink-haired Espada smiled dangerously. "You must be the human with the strange powers that Ulquiorra has been guarding! I am Szayel Apporo Granz, the Octava Espada."  
"N-nice to meet you, Granz-San", Orihime replied. Both her fear and her hatred at the shake in her voice were evident in her reply.  
"You should come down to my lab sometime! I would very much enjoy...studying your body..." Szayel whispered leaning in close to her and delicately licking his lips. Ulquiorra watched the exchange with some slight, cold amusement. "How unfortunate for you, Octava, that Aizen wishes her to remain unaltered and intact, for now. Perhaps you should take up your request with him." Ulquiorra smiled, coldly, as Szayel replied, "Oh yes, when he is done with her I am sure he would be willing... By the way, did you have a good shower? Should you ever need someone to take away your...emptiness...I am always willing." Ulquiorra's face did not change at the confirmation of his suspicions. "Sadly, madness is your domain, not mine." He replied, with the slightest hint of amusement in his voice.

Szayel took the less than subtle hint, and turned to watching the other Espada, ignoring Ulquiorra and Orihime. Starrk finally walked in the door, and sat down across from Ulquiorra. The Primera Espada rested his chin in his hands and closed his eyes. Nnoitra and Grimmjow arguing over some inconsequential thing were the only noise in the meeting room until the disgraced king of Hueco Mundo, Barragan, entered and sat down at the far end of the table. Finally, Aizen, followed by Ichimaru Gin and Tosen Kaname entered the room. Aizen sat at the head of the table, while Tosen leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Ichimaru stood in a corner, smiling eerily.

"Let the meeting begin." Aizen said calmly, and Grimmjow and Nnoitra fell silent. "My dear Espada, as some of you are doubtlessly aware, Hueco Mundo has been invaded by Kurosaki Ichigo and his comrades. However, would you like some tea?" The Espada watched in silence as the tea was placed at in front of them, and all but Barragan sipped it, silently. Despite the fact that Arrancar did not require nourishment, Aizen always served tea at the meetings. Ulquiorra did not know how he got the tea in Hueco Mundo, nor did he care. The woman seemed surprise at the drink, but drank it obediently (though only after watching to see if the other Espada did the same). "Now, you all know where you are supposed to guard in the event of an invasion. Grimmjow, should you leave your post to go hunting any particular target, know that next time Kaname removes your arm, I will not allow Inoue-San to heal it. That is all.


	2. Chapter 2

Ulquiorra left the room, the woman following behind him. The Espada ignored her, either uncaring or unwilling to provoke the Cuatro Espada. Grimmjow fell into step beside him. "Yo Ulquiorra! How is guard duty? You must be getting bored by now, with such a simple assignment!"  
"I do what Aizen-sama requires. It is no hardship." Ulquiorra replied. "Come now, Ulquiorra, you must be tired of her! Why don't you leave her for Yammy? You know he does anything you tell him, he's practically your Fraccione!"  
"Yammy is not intelligent enough to deal with any living creature beyond that idiotic hollow-puppy that he insists on carrying around with him. If I left her to him, she'd be in Szayel's lab within five minutes of my departure. As well as that, going out and getting into pointless fights with trash does not interest me. Although, Sexta, I suppose that to you, they must not seem like trash."  
Grimmjow turned pink with rage and embarrassment as Ulquiorra reminded him of his rank. He turned and stalked away, reiatsu dark with anger. Ulquiorra turned to gauge the woman's reaction, and found her forehead beaded with sweat. Quickly, he realized that Grimmjow's angry reiatsu must be too strong for her, and he stepped behind her as she fainted. Sighing, he carried her back to the cell and set her on her bed. He stood, hands in his pockets, waiting for her to regain consciousness.

-

Finally, her eyes opened. Ulquiorra watched her, emotionlessly as she shook her head and sat upright. She jolted a bit as she saw him standing in her room, her senses still dull from her episode. "What are you doing here? How did I get back here?" She asked, angrily.  
"Do you remember Grimmjow trying to provoke me in the hallway?" He asked, cold.  
"No...wait, yes. I...passed out? Did you carry me here?" She asked, less angry now.  
"Of course. Trash like you can not stand up to the reiatsu of an enraged Espada." Strangely, he sounded almost disappointed as he spoke. Like he had expected more of her, somehow.  
"Why was Grimmjow trying to provoke you?"  
"Because he is an idiot in love with his aspect of death, Destruction. He suffers under the delusion that he can beat me in a fight and climb further up the ranks, which is ridiculous. I am stronger by far, and every other Espada realizes it. I do not want to fight him because he is trash and it would be pointless, and Aizen-sama would likely be upset if I killed him, but the idiot thinks it is because I am afraid of him. Trash."  
"Oh..." Orihime crossed and uncrossed her legs, trying to find her friends' reiatsu to see where they were. How close they were.  
"Are you trying to sense them?" Ulquiorra asked.  
"Yes, of course. Can...Can you feel them?" She asked.  
"Yes. You wouldn't be able to, they are underground in the den of the fallen Espada. Do you want to know what their progress is?" He asked, cold in the face of her weakness.  
"Yes... Will you tell me?"  
"I can tell you, if you must know. They are all still alive, but only barely. It seems that some minor Arrancar have also joined them, for some reason." Ulquiorra sighed. "I will have to go deal with the Shinigami now. He is getting to close to Las Noches. Szayel will take care of the Quincy, based on his direction so far. As for the Fullbringer, he will likely end up with the Quincy."  
"Wait! What do you mean, the Fullbringer? Do you mean Sado?" Orihime asked, desperately.  
"Yes. Based on the power he showed when Yammy and I came to the living world, that is what Aizen-sama and I believe he is. His power is connected to that of hollows, it allows him to draw the 'soul' out of inanimate objects and manipulate them, though only if he has a strong emotional connection to them. In his case, his 'fullbring' is his own skin."  
"Oh. I had wondered..." She whispered, softly.  
"I will be back soon, after the Shinigami is dealt with." He said, coldly, watching her eyes to see her reaction.  
"Please..." Orihime struggled to hold back tears as she thought of Kurosaki-kun facing Ulquiorra. She knew that he could not possibly survive, and she struggled to find the words for her request.  
"Please...Ulquiorra. Please... Make it quick, for him... Don't... Make it hurt..." She whispered, knowing that her anguish showed on her face.  
"Woman... I am not like some of the other Espada. I do not play with my prey, even if they are trash like him. If you request it, I will not bring him back for Szayel to play with, though it makes no difference to me."  
"Yes... Please, just tell him... That I loved him." She forced herself to say it, as her eyes grew damp.  
"Very well. I will be back within the hour."  
"Thank you..." She said, softly, as he left. Slowly, her wet eyes dried, the unshed tears draining away. She took heart in the fact that Kurosaki would go to Soul Society in his death, that he would not suffer. She did not know why she trusted Ulquiorra, but somehow she knew he was telling her the truth when he said he would kill him quickly. There was something underneath the cold exterior he projected... She wasn't sure what, but she would find out.


	3. Chapter 3

Ulquiorra tracked the boy's over-inflated reiatsu with ease, using sonido the cover the distance in a matter of seconds. He waited until the he finished his fight with the fallen Espada, whichever one it was, before using sonido again to appear at the top of the staircase out of the den of the triple digits.

Ichigo looked upward with shock as the small Espada appeared. "You! You were with that big guy who appeared in the living world! I don't want to have to fight you, you haven't done anything to me, so please. Step aside."  
The boy's arrogance, his surety in his superiority and the clear emotions so casually displayed on his face irritated Ulquiorra slightly. Still, he was dispassionate as he replied, "And what if I told you that I was the Espada who brought Inoue Orihime to Las Noches?"  
The boy's face darkened, and he replied with hatred in his voice, "Then, I suppose I will fight you, though you can't be strong. Otherwise, why would you have simply stood behind that big guy in the living world?"  
Ulquiorra's irritation with the trash grew, as he replied, "The 'big guy', was Yammy Llargo, the Nueva Espada. I trust you understand how our ranking system works?"  
"I've heard." Was the boy's response.  
Wordlessly, Ulquiorra unzipped his coat and revealed the number 4 branded on his chest. He felt a pale sense of satisfaction as the boy's eyes widened in shock. Despite this, there was still no fear in his eyes, and his arrogance still showed on his face, in his body. "To me, boy, you are trash. Even if you defeated me, there are still four others above me. There will be no victory for you or your comrades." With that, he used sonido and stabbed the Shinigami through the base of his throat with his hierro-hardened hand. Somehow, the boy dodged, meaning Ulquiorra's first attack did not go far enough through to be fatal. Still, the boy could not keep up to sonido, and his zanpaktou could not cut Ulquiorra's skin. Rapidly, with one hand still in his pocket, he stabbed at the Shinigami's throat several times, until he got through the boy's weak defences, his hand severing the boy's spinal cord and slicing though his windpipe. His bright red blood spilled outwards, and Ulquiorra grabbed the boy as he fell. Carefully, he felt for reiatsu. Nothing.

Finally, in order to ensure the boy's death, he stabbed through the sides of his neck in quick succession, severing his head. Using sonido again, he entered the throne room. Kneeling, he held the boy's sightless head by the hair. "He is dead. I have brought his head as proof." Aizen motioned for him to stand, and gracefully, he did. "Thank you, Ulquiorra. Kaname?" He said to the blind Shinigami, who chanted a quick incantation and instantly incinerated the head with kido. "You may leave, Ulquiorra." Aizen said, smiling down at his favoured tool. Bowing slightly, Ulquiorra walked back to the woman's room.


	4. Chapter 4

Orihime had felt the change in the air as Ichigo died, and she could feel Ulquiorra coming to confirm it. When she felt his reiatsu disappear, she had felt...nothingness, empty and numb. She just...couldn't seem to care, anymore. Maybe it was Ulquiorra and his mind games, and her clothes and sweating her loyalty in front of Aizen, over and over, but now... She was just glad that it was over. Not long after that, Sado and Uryuu, too, had been defeated and killed. She felt nothing, still. As emptiness filled her, somehow, she wondered if this was how Ulquiorra felt, all the time, as the Espada of Emptiness. For the first time, she felt a bit of empathy for him. For the price he had to pay for his strength.

She sat still on her bed, knees drawn up to her chin as she stared, blankly out the window at the eternal moon of Hueco Mundo. She did not move as Ulquiorra entered the room, did not look at his green eyes. She sat, and thought of the death of hope.

-

Ulquiorra watched the woman as she sat, feeling her emptiness roll off of her in waves. From a mirror, he could see her face, and for the first time he could not read what she felt. For the first time, he knew only that she was empty, like him after all. And, he wondered if he should feel satisfaction at finally having broken her, when all he felt was a slight regret.

-

Orihime's face was as cold as his as he sat down in the small, wooden chair, turning it to face her. She ignored him as he studied her, trying to read her as he, once, had so easily been able to.  
"You will feel grief for him, after a time. This emptiness, I know it better than you, though you think you understand yourself even now. The numbing will fade. For everyone but I, it fades and changes to despair, or it turns inwards and leads to madness. Espada know this better than anyone."  
"Why are you telling me this?" She asked, her voice hollow.  
"It is my duty to keep you sane..." He said it firmly, projecting, as he always did, for there was no place in Las Noches that he could not be seen or heard. He did not tell her that he disliked watching her suffer, that he hated seeing his own emptiness reflected on another. Instead, he simply sat next to her. "I must meet with Aizen again." He said, rising from the bed and leaving her to herself.

-

Orihime sat alone, not moving. Barely breathing, she watched the moon travel past her window. Finally, after hours, she simply fell asleep, relaxing in her unconsciousness as her head struck the pillow and her arms flopped across her almost lifeless body. That night, she dreamed of her friends, of memories, of her once-crush on Ichigo. She dreamed of the day, when she had been in Hueco Mundo for nearly a week, when she realized she didn't love him anymore. She dreamed of Ulquiorra, of his cold hands tearing Ichigo apart. She dreamed of bloodstains on cold floors.

Still, she dreamed through the night, and eventually her thoughts turned to images of her friends in Soul Society. Of their enrolment in the academy, of how they might live. She dreamed of Ishida, of him finding a girl that he fell in love with and married. She knew, that he had loved her, and she wished she had ever felt the same. In her dreams, she gave him happiness. She dreamed of Sado, finding his Abuelo and their reunion. In her dreams, she gave him family. And, finally, she dreamed of Ichigo, of his purpose as he climbed the ranks of the squads. She dreamed of him getting stronger, of him achieving a captain level reiatsu. In her dreams, she gave him strength.

Finally, when she awoke, she felt tears streaming down her cheeks, reminiscent of Ulquiorra's markings, and she knew that he was right, the emptiness had passed. She cried for their families and their friends and her friends and the people they would never meet. She cried for lives cut short and questions that would never be given answers. And finally, as they always must, her tears ended. When food was deposited in her room by one of the Numeros, she ate it slowly, and though it tasted awful, she finished it.


	5. Chapter 5

Ulquiorra walked through the white hallways of Las Noches, coat tails swishing behind him. Calmly, he walked into the throne room and knelt before Aizen. "Yes, Ulquiorra, is there something you wish to say?" Asked Aizen, sounding slightly curious. "Yes. Would I be able to move the woman to my rooms? It would be much more convenient for me, and the security threat is no longer an issue." He replied, empty-sounding as always.  
"Very well. I trust you do not require any assistance with moving her? Also, if she is in your quarters, you will be required to deal with her upkeep, as you have no Fracciones."  
"Very well. Thank you, Aizen-sama." With that, Ulquiorra rose, bowed, as was his custom, and left.

He walked back to the woman's cell, footsteps echoing slightly. The hallways were empty, unusually so. As he walked, he searched for the reiatsu of the other Espada. Unsurprisingly, Szayel was in his lab. Aaroniero was out hunting, as were Grimmjow and Szayel. Zommari seemed to be in his quarters, probably drinking sake, and Starrk was sleeping. Starrk was always sleeping. The others were alone in their rooms, but for Barragan. Based on the flaring reiatsus surrounding him, he was probably holding death matches between the youngest Adjuchas (they were the only ones that still listened to him).

Ulquiorra sighed, remembering what life had been like before Aizen had come to Hueco Mundo. He, like all other Adjuchas with potential to evolve into Vasto Lordes, had hunted often. He had been the cold executioner, for none could match him in the endless cycle of consume, or be consumed. It was one more logical step down the road to maintaining his dominance over the body that he shared with thousands of consciousnesses. For, though he had learned to silence their voices long ago, their power, the constant pushing at his iron control drove him to eat. For, it was only in the consumption of even more souls that he could gain dominance. Paradoxically, the more souls within him, the less strength they had.

Such reminiscences were pointless and ridiculous, however. Something that only trash was prone to. He, Ulquiorra, had mastered himself. He had none of the maddening voices that had plagued some of the others, he had gagged them all tightly. It was this power that let him continue on, the emptiness inside of him was his greatest strength.

Calmly, he reached the woman's cell and entered. She was sitting on her bed, staring out the windows. Her reiatsu had lost the numbness it had before, and strangely, this pleased him. He rationalized it as gladness that her mind was still intact, and she was still able to serve Aizen. That was all that would make sense. She continued to watch the moon of Hueco Mundo, and her voice sounded strong, but sad, as she asked him, "Does the moon ever change? It never seems to wax and wane, not that I have noticed."  
"The moon? It changes, slowly. Over the years, it waxes and wanes. It takes 40 years for it to complete a cycle, approximately."  
"That long... Why? Does anyone know?" She replied, almost wistful.  
"Time moves much slower in Hueco Mundo then in the Human World. Szayel once brought over some humans to test their rate of aging here, and he found that one human month is the same as 40 Hueco Mundo years. I would assume the moon is just a reflection of the living world's moon."  
Orihime's face coloured slightly, as she replied, "That explains... Some things, lately."  
Ulquiorra acknowledged this with a nod of his head, and said, "Your accommodations have been moved to my palace. Please, follow me."

He turned and walked out the door, consciously slowing down his long strides so that she might stay within his eyesight. Her muscles were continuing to deteriorate from her enclosure, and she was slow as the walked. Finally, their pace began to irritate Ulquiorra, so he stopped and waited for her to catch up.  
"This pace is ridiculous. I had forgotten how slow humans are. At this rate one of the starving hollows will come and attack you, and I will have to deal with it." He then moved behind her and gently held her around the waist, feeling her exhale in shock as they almost instantly appeared outside his palace. Smoothly, he released her and pushed a slight pulse of his reiatsu into the stone of the doorway. It glowed green in response, and the stone dissolved away, allowing them entrance.

Orihime looked around, her despair momentarily forgotten as the huge, vaulted ceilings and the seamless white stone captivated her. The ceilings were built to accommodate someone of Yammy's size, easily. There were no doors, just archways into hallways. She could see that the hallways were on a more normal scale than those of the entrance, but despite this, it was incredible. There were three hallways, like compass points if the doorway was south. As she began to wonder what the palace of an Espada would hold, Ulquiorra's cold voice returned her to the ground.

"The hallway to the left branches off into training rooms and a library. You may use those at your leisure. Straight ahead, you will find bedrooms, toilets and a kitchen, feel free to make yourself at home in one of the rooms. As for the right, that is my quarters. You shouldn't need to go in those, but if you choose too, I do not particularly care, so long as you don't cause any destruction. As well as that, there is a staircase to the rooftop at the end of each hallway. Do not go up to the roof, as many hollows can fly, and if they sense your reiatsu, they will try to eat you. That would be very inconvenient, on a number of levels. Do you understand, woman?"  
"Yes. If we're going to live together, though, could you at least call me by my name? It gets tiring, being called 'woman' by all of Espada." She replied, her voice echoing slightly in the cavernous room.  
"Very well...Inoue-san." Ulquiorra replied, with a barely discernible trace of cheer in his voice.  
With that, Orihime turned and began walking down the middle hallway, with Ulquiorra following behind. She looked through the bedrooms, all of which were well-furnished, and reminded her of dormitory-style housing. Finally, she found one with a window, and entered it. "Ulquiorra, why are there so many rooms here?" She asked, curious.  
"The basic layout of the palaces for the Espada is the same, with all of us given facilities to house up to ten Fracciones. I chose not to have any Fraccione, so these rooms are useless to me."  
Orihime nodded, and turned to look out the window. "Why don't you have any Fracciones, then?" She asked again.  
Ulquiorra's habitual frown grew slightly larger, as he replied, "You ask too many questions. I choose not to have Fracciones because they would be irritating. I do not need some underpowered Número running behind me, calling me sama and complaining when I leave them behind. None of the Números would be strong enough to keep up to me."  
"What about Yammy, then? What is he?" She asked.  
"Yammy is a pest who demonstrates why I choose to avoid Fracciones. Because I am the only Espada who does not constantly try to provoke him or completely ignore him, he behaves as though he is my Fraccione. I do not need more Yammies following me around." Ulquiorra answered her, coldly.  
"That sounds so...lonely." Orihime said, sad again. Ulquiorra merely looked at her. "Feel free to explore the castle. Remember your boundaries and I will not bother you unless you require me for some matter." He spoke, before turning and leaving her.

Orihime sat on the bed and watched the moon as she wondered about the Espada. Something wet dripped on her hand, and she looked down, numbly surprised as she felt the dampness on her cheeks. Thoughts of Ichigo, Chad and Ishida mingled with the green-eyed Espada as she sat and wept, silently.


	6. Chapter 6

Ulquiorra left the woman's room, and headed upwards, to the rooftop. Though Espada did not have to hunt other hollows, for the first time in months he felt tempted. The souls of the other hollows could bring a momentary relief, as their lives washed over him and were absorbed and silenced again. But, no. He was not such trash that he needed the souls of others to sustain him anymore, he had moved beyond that.

Still, the woman made him feel strangely...disquieted. She disrupted his cold calmness, the numbness that was his strength, and he hated that. He hated that she made him feel so strange. He resolved to avoid her, unless she sought him out, until he felt more like himself again. He watched the moon, wondering what about it so entranced her, remembering the name of the shinigami boy's zanpaktou. Zangetsu... Perhaps it reminded her of him, though why she would wish to be reminded of trash that had died so easily, he did not understand. Sighing, he unsheathed Murcielago, releasing it with a whisper as he dove off the roof, wings opening and catching the air as he flew in circles around the palace. The feeling of the cold air beneath his wings and the strength of his resurrection quieted his mind, helping him to regain his cold logic. Around and around he flew, until his mind was empty again. The moonlight shone on his pale skin, trying to warm him, but it was not hot enough.

Orihime saw a dark figure fly past her window, and jumped in shock. Though flying hollows were not uncommon, this one was closer than usual. Shaking her head slightly at her own silliness, she turned away from the opening in the granite of the palace and left her room. She trusted Ulquiorra to deal with the flying monster, whatever it was, and instead walked as far as she could. Her slowness on the way to the palace had been humiliating, and she resolved to gain back her strength. Though her grief for her friends still hit her often, she knew that they would be happy in Soul Society. She tried not to think of the friends that would never see them again.

As she walked, she reached the large entryway again. She turned right, resolving to explore Ulquiorra's library. Her feet echoed off of the ground, contrasting against the silence of the castle. It felt like a tomb, and it unnerved her. At least in her cell, the howls of the Gillians could be heard, and sometimes the voices of the shinigami or the Arrancar. Not that the noises the Gillians made were particularly comforting, but she had grown used to them. There seemed to be no hollows at all around Ulquiorra's palace, other than that flying one she had seen earlier, and she wondered if it was his strength that warned them away. He always kept such iron control over his reiatsu, she had no idea how strong he was. She knew he was powerful, certainly, he had to be to defeat Ichigo, but she did not know where his limit was. She did not even know his number yet, for she had yet to gather the courage to ask.

Eventually, her wandering led her to the library. As she stepped into the room, she felt the subtle pressure of a low-level kido, and candles instantly ignited. The lighting was a little dim, but she had grown used to that since she had been kidnapped, and it did not bother her. Slowly, she scanned his books. Many were on practical things, such as swordsmanship theory and strategies. He also had a single cookbook, which seemed to be rarely used. Then, she hit gold. An entire shelf devoted to kido, including magical barriers like she and Hachi-San used. There were also several other Soul Society looking books, but they were more about Zanpaktou theory, including many about shikai and bankai releases and how to achieve them. There was also a large textbook on hollows and other known supernatural races. She grabbed that, wondering if she would find some clues about the origin of her own abilities. Shooting a longing look at the barrier section of the Kido shelf, she tools some books from there as well, until she was holding a tower of novels.

There was a single, well-used looking armchair with a small table and candle next to it in a corner, and she looked at it for a moment, trying to imagine her fearsome jailer curled up with a book and the candle. For the first time since Ichigo had died, she smiled slightly. She turned and out her books on the table and settled into the chair. The leather, she realized, smelled like him. As she settled into the soft cushions, she let his scent envelop her, the scent of the candles around her mixed with sweat and the metallic scent of hollow. It was strangely comforting.

Yawning a little, she opened the first book, about hollows and shinigami. Looking through the index, she was surprised to see the Bount included, as well as many others she hadn't heard of. Fullbringers, what Ulquiorra had called Chad, as well as Vizards, Arrancar, Shinigami (divided into different classes), Hollows (this section was the largest), and even a section on zanpaktou spirits. Intrigued, Orihime turned to the Hollow section.

A hollow is formed by a plus losing its heart. This heart is what forms the hollow's mask, giving them their own unique traits and abilities. The hollow is most easily killed by destroying this mask completely. Normal hollows pose little threat to officers of seated class, but may become a problem in the going world by absorbing more souls. Some of the strongest hollows may turn cannibalistic, resulting in the formation of Gillians (see pages 134-137). Gillians are the first class of Menos Grande hollows, a section of the Hollow species made up of the compaction of many hollow souls into one body. The other classes of Menos are Adjuchas (pages 138-140) and Vasto Lordes (pages 141-144).

The transformation of a plus to a hollow is extremely long and painful for the soul. The soul typically goes through 3 stages, plus, demi-hollow and hollow, with the period of transition between each stage growing shorter. Obviously, the easiest way to prevent the creation of hollows is to perform Konso (soul burial) on any souls found in the living world, however there are far too many souls to stop all of them from becoming hollows. Once the chain of fate has been completely destroyed, the plus's body appears to explode, then coalesce into the hollow form. A mask then quickly forms over the face of the hollow, and a hole appears where the chain of date was once attached. When the soul has become a hollow, it is impossible to reverse the transformation, and it must be defeated with a Shinigami's zanpaktou in order to purify it and send it to Soul Society.

The section went on to describe different known abilities of hollows and their weaknesses, as well as typical behaviours and patterns. Orihime skimmed through that, before coming to the Menos chapter.

Menos Grande are the result of cannibalistic hollows, and are on a drastically different level from 'regular' hollows. They rarely leave the hollow world, known as Hueco Mundo, but may pose serious threats. While a captain class or strong lieutenant class Shinigami may easily deal with a Gillian, an Adjuchas class hollow is at a Captain class level. A Vasto Lorde class hollow poses serious threats to captains, and the defeat of one often requires multiple captains working together.

Gillians are the largest of the Menos, and are characterized by their long, black robes and bone white 'skin'. They all possess the same mask, with a long, white nose-like protrusion and slitted eyes (similar to the small pox doctors of the old living world). A Gillian with a deviant mask or other traits possesses the potential to evolve into an Adjuchas, as the deviations indicate the dominance of one of the many personalities inhabiting the Gillian's body. These deviant Gillians must be dealt with quickly, in order to end their evolution. While Gillians possess beast-like intellect and are often slow, the other Menos classes pose a much greater threat.

A deviant Gillian may potentially remove its mask, resulting in a Gillian-class Arrancar. While these Gillian-class Arrancars are the least threatening of the Arrancar, they may pose genuine threats to captain and lieutenant class shinigami. They are, however, the least common subset of Arrancars, as they generally lack the concentration and intelligence required to remove their masks. Deviant Gillians may only evolve further if they are able to consume other hollows, and other Gillians without being consumed (or even partially consumed) by other cannibal hollows. Once the first bite is taken out of any Menos hollow, their evolution is irrevocably halted. This ensures that only the strongest of the deviant Gillians are able to progress to Adjuchas level.

Orihime yawned again, rubbing her eyes. The softly flickering candlelight seemed to entice her eyelids to shut, and just as she checked the page number of the book, she fell asleep in the chair.


	7. Chapter 7

As always, flying returned Ulquiorra to himself. It was one of the few things that could. He felt a superficial sort of sadness as he lightly dropped to the rooftop, his legs shaking for a second as they remembered how to support weight. He sealed Murcielago once more, and returned to his normal state, blinking as his enhanced vision left him once more. Walking back down to his quarters, his footsteps echoed off of the granite steps. The emptiness of his palace was familiar, natural. He appreciated the silence as only one with unnaturally strong hearing can. The break from the harsh, grating sounds of Las Noches was always much appreciated. It was only broken on some nights, when he could hear the music that the other Espada played floating to him on the breeze. Still, no sound could enter the basement of the palace, accessible only from his rooms. It was the only thing he had not mentioned to the woman.

Reminded of her again, he searched out her reiatsu and found her in the library. She had not eaten in a few hours, so he went to find her. His coat tails unfurled behind him as he strode through the palace, reminiscent of his wings. Everywhere he looked, only his own eyes reflected back at him off of the polished white walls.

Finally, he reached the library and found her asleep in his chair, with a book open on her lap. Her reiatsu seemed calm, and he found himself leaning over her to see what she had been reading. She seemed to be researching the Menos and Arrancar, which intrigued him. He was glad that she was trying to learn more about them, though when he imagined her look of horror as she realized how many souls he had consumed... Still, it was better that she understood exactly what the Arrancar were, what the Espada were. She seemed comfortable, so he decided not of wake her up. He walked back to his own rooms and settled into bed, out of habit more than actual tiredness. Eventually, he fell into a deep sleep, and dreamed.

Voices tormented him. Personalities, motivations and hatreds mixed with ancient passions surrounded him, inescapable. He could not move without them crying out their thoughts, could not think without them thinking back. Their anger and bitterness consumed him, filling him with the hunger of thousands. The only thing that could begin to silence them was the other beasts around him, and so he ate with a mindless frenzy. He desired silence so terribly, needed nothing more than for the voices to leave him. Slowly, he could feel himself growing stronger, but the voices would never leave him. His own mind twisted around them, warped and changed. In his strength, he was filled with the personalities of others, and their memories and knowledge flooded him, until he could not remember himself anymore. And he ate, and ate, knowing that if he could grow stronger still, he could end this internal torture.

His prey began to fear him as his strength grew so much stronger than theirs. They ran from him like sheep, but he consumed them all. And with each bite, more voices entered him, more lives and hatred, but they grew quieter, despite their multitude. Finally, as his reiatsu began to fluctuate and change, they too began to fall silent. Each second they did not torment him was a gift, and he loved the emptiness inside. The end of the overpowering emotions and passions. He was cold, and strong in his coldness.

Finally, as the eternal moon of Hueco Mundo loomed overhead, he stopped walking as the fluctuations of his reiatsu intensified. He howled to the sky as pain ripped through his body, shredding him to ashes. He could feel each part of himself floating, separated, then drawn together once more. The ash coalesced swirling together to leave him whole, once more. The voices had finally stopped as the young Adjuchas remembered its own name. He breathed it outwards, revelling in the silence. Ulquiorra Cifer, was his name. And with a name, he unfurled his new, bone white wings and took to the sky.

Years, centuries passed as he flew, and slowly, the voices returned to torment him. They were always waiting for him to grow weak enough to let them take over. He fed, constantly, to stay strong enough to control them. He could see the lives of the other Adjuchas flow out beneath him, watched as they formed their groups and alliances, only to collapse into a feeding frenzy when their hunger overtook them. He wondered how they controlled the voices inside, how they stayed sane. Still, no answers were there. He hunted, and searched for a way to silence the madness inside of him.

One night (for it was always night), he saw a break in the endless desert. A pale, spiked tree rose upwards into the sky. Intrigued, he landed at its base. He could feel its own emptiness, and drew nearer to it. He stretched out his hand, and sunk into the trunk of the tree. Pain stretched across his face as his mask fractured and a piece fell off, and then sensation ended as the voices were silenced. The tree and the Adjuchas were one, and there they stood, watching the desert for years and years in blessed peace.

Unchanged, until he came. The shinigami with the smooth, intense reiatsu. He, too, was drawn to the tree. He reached out with one hand and stroked one of its spines, not noticing the hot blood that spilled outwards from his hand. The shinigami pulled out a small object, and pushed it into the tree as the consciousness inside it awoke for the first time in centuries. The Adjuchas split from the tree and stood above the shinigami. "Who are you, that has awaken me?", he asked.  
"I am Sosuke Aizen. I offer you power, and the end of the struggle to evolve."  
"What is this power that you speak of, Shinigami?"  
"I would remove your mask, and give you the strength of the Shinigami. You would help me change the world."  
"I care little for the world. Still, this is the creation of an Arrancar, you would facilitate. You, a shinigami, would grant such strength to an enemy?" The voices crowded his consciousness once more, and he nearly screamed as the noise intruded again.  
Oblivious, the shinigami continued. "I am a Shinigami, yes, but I wish to make Soul Society more. I need your strength to help me. What will you do? I offer strength beyond your knowledge, will you take it?"  
Ulquiorra considered, for a moment. Perhaps, this strength would end his torment. Deciding, he agreed to the Shinigami's offer, and was shown the way to Las Noches. Once they entered a large, circular room, the shinigami pulled out the small object once more, and threw it into Ulquiorra's hollow hole.


	8. Chapter 8

Finally, Orihime woke. Her cheeks flushed as she realized she had fallen asleep in Ulquiorra's chair, and she slowly stood up and got her books. Balancing the stack carefully, she walked back out of the hallway and into the great entrance. Looking around, she tried to remember where her room was. "Right! Opposite of the entrance." She spoke out loud as she remembered, and turned into the hallway. Still a little asleep, she caught her toe in one of the tiny cracks in the ground and fell, her books flying out around her. "Crap!" She exclaimed, and began picking them up.

Ulquiorra heard the woman fall, and sighing, used sonido and appeared next to her. She had several books around her, and he quickly picked up the remaining ones. "Here... You should try to be more careful when you walk, Inoue-san." She blushed, and replied with embarrassment on her face, "S-sorry Ulquiorra!" Quickly taking the books, she began to walk to her room as he headed back to the training room. He shook his head slightly at her clumsiness. Perhaps he would ask her if she wanted to train with him later. He could tell that she hated her relative powerlessness compared to the Arrancar, and thought he might be able to train her to a level where she could at least compete with the Números.

With practiced motions, he set up the training dummy again. It wasn't really a dummy, not in the traditional sense. When the mod-souls had been created, Aizen had seen their potential and stolen several of the strongest. Ulquiorra inserted them into combat-gigais to practice on. The gigais had all been made to be extremely durable and fast. Ulquiorra typically trained with several of them at once. It provided a light workout.

He put the mod-souls into 5 different gigais, making sure that each mod-soul had a different enhancement. He didn't use Murcielago for training, instead opting for a wooden kendo sword so as to preserve the gigais. Szayel got annoyed when he had to waste time on gigai making, and Ulquiorra disliked dealing with the Octava Espada, even when he was in a good mood. Perhaps especially when he was in a good mood, as he tended to get irritatingly flirty and provocative when he was happy.

The mod-souls rushed him all at once, and he easily flipped above their heads, evading one's jump and another's thrown sword. He only wore a loose pair of white pants for training, and his muscles flexed as he leapt around the room. Normally, for the first hour of the fight he tried to avoid all blows, not allowing himself to block or parry attacks, while for the last hour he did not use sonido or evasive maneuvers at all. In this way, he was able to make the practices mildly interesting, rather than simple slaughters.

The feeling of leaping and flipping off of the rafters and poles set up in the room reminded him of flight, and he caught himself going into an almost meditative trance on a few occasions. The mod-souls fought to their highest abilities, but they were of little threat to the Cuatro Espada. It was as he was leaping off of the wall that he felt the woman's reiatsu approaching. His foot nearly slipped, allowing a mod-soul to graze the very edge of his pants, creating a small tear. Ulquiorra gave his gigais real katanas, to add to the challenge (though it was still not much of a challenge). Irritated, he took to the ground for a few steps, then flipped upwards as a sword swung towards him. Back off of a pole, then running across the ceiling. Easily, he used sonido, twisting and flying through the air.

Orihime watched in awe as Ulquiorra's body flashed across the room. He was never in one place for long enough to focus on, just a white blur as the people fighting him attacked. She could see some sort of weapon in his hands, and wondered why he refused to use it. It couldn't have been concern for the welfare of his training mates. As she watched, her eyes slowly grew used to his movements enough to distinguish that he held only a wooden kendo sword, while his opponents had steel katanas. Still, they couldn't seem to touch him. As he turned through the air, she could see how artistic and complex his movements were, and realized he was specifically training his dodging. Impressed, she saw the muscles on his back bunching as he paused for a moment before springing off of a rafter. Straining her eyes, she tried to focus on him long enough to find his tattoo, as she still didn't know what his rank was, but he never stayed still for long enough.

Finally he leapt into the centre of the room and used his sword for the first time, easily blocking the attacks of his opponents and hittin them back. Orihime could sense that he was holding his strength in check, but over time his attacks grew progressively stronger, until he finally struck one person in the head, the force pushing them across the floor until they struck a column with a sickening crack. Another, he dispatched by slashing across their neck, and the opponent stepped backwards, out of the battle. Then, he threw the sword away and attacked the last three with only his hands. His hierro-hardened skin easily deflected the steel katanas, and he struck each opponent in the base of the throat, hands plunging through the skin easily. Strangely, no blood welled up in the wounds, which healed almost instantly as each opponent stepped backwards. Ulquiorra's back was still to her as he walked away and put on his customary white jacket, the sound of its zipper loud in the sudden silence. He turned to her, face as blank as alway, and her face burned as she realized she had been watching him fight for over an hour.

He motioned for her to enter, and she watched as he walked to a small room in the corner and grabbed one of the Shinigami's gloves, and he struck each of his opponents in the head, forcing small, green pills to fly out of each of them. "You were fighting... Mod-souls?" She asked.  
"Yes, Aizen rescued several from soul society many years ago. They serve as my training companions as I have no Fraccione. The gigais are highly durable and possess advanced regeneration."  
"Ahh. How do you get gigais out here?" She asked.  
Ulquiorra's frown deepened slightly as he replied, "Szayel." His dislike of the Espada was evident.  
Orihime laughed nervously, replying, "Yeah, he's really...unique."  
To her surprise, Ulquiorra's frown softened somewhat, and he nodded in agreement. "Inoue-San, would you like to use the training room? If you wish I would be willing to help improve your abilities.", he stated.

His face, as usual, revealed nothing. "I would...like that." Orihime replied. "Good. I must attend a meeting now, but perhaps when I return we might begin." Orihime nodded, trying to conceal her excitement as Ulquiorra strode out of the room. "Inoue-San, there should be food in the kitchens if you want to make yourself a meal. Don't hesitate to use it as it was placed there for you, not me." He said over his shoulder.  
"Thank you, Ulquiorra!" She replied, as he shoved his hands in his pockets and left.


	9. Chapter 9

As Ulquiorra left, Orihime walked back to the library, where she'd been going in the first place, before Ulquiorra had distracted her. Humming slightly, she picked up her stack of books she'd left outside the entrance and sat down in the chair again. For a moment, she though of Kurosaki-kun, and wondered if he was training in Soul Society as well. She picked up her book, and began to read again.

Ulquiorra strode back to his quarters and put on his normal pants, ignoring the cameras he knew were positioned on him (he could sense some of Gin's reiatsu residue in one of the corners of his room). Then, he used sonido to get to the meeting. He sat at his usual place and waited with the others for Starrk and Barragan. As was custom, he sat in silence while Grimmjow picked a fight with Aaroniero. Grimmjow always seemed to be fighting with someone in the lead up to these meetings. He could feel Aaroniero's angry reiatsu across the room, while Grimmjow seemed largely unconcerned, as usual. The Gillian trash was getting truly furious as Starrk slouched into the room. Finally, Barragan entered, followed by the Shinigami.

Aizen took his place at the head of the table while tea was passed out. "My dear Espada. It is time for the invasion of Karakura Town.", Aizen announced. "I shall be taking Starrk, Barragan, Harribel, Nnoitra and Aaroniero with me. The rest of you shall stay here and watch over Las Noches under Ulquiorra's command. Gin and Tosen shall also be coming with me."  
"I am honoured, Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra replied dutifully. Aizen smiled and continued to discuss strategy with those attending the battle for the next half hour before leaving in the Garganta with his chosen force. Ulquiorra left for his palace, while Grimmjow used sonido to head out into the desert, looking for a fight. Zommari went back to his palace as well, to meditate.

Orihime read, and as she read, she learned.

Adjuchas

The Gillian, while already a powerful beast consisting of the souls of hundreds of Hollows, is the least powerful of the Menos. After consuming upwards of 1000 souls, depending on their power, they may evolve to an Adjuchas. While the Gillian is incapable of rational thought, feelings or sentience, the Adjuchas has a very human psyche.

Adjuchas are larger than humans and the middle class of Menos. They fight on a captain-class level and pose genuine threat to Soul Society and the Living World, and are often found leading armies of Gillian. They are the generals of the army, but rarely leave Hueco Mundo, as their main prey is found there. Adjuchas feed exclusively on other Menos, though they may eat weaker souls, they do little to further their quest towards evolution. An Adjuchas that has defeated a Shinigami, Quincy or other soul with high spiritual pressure will almost always devour it, as well. The Adjuchas is compelled to consume souls in order to further their own progression towards becoming a Vasto Lordes, and to prevent from devolving into a Gillian again. An Adjuchas that devolves to Gillian level is completely incapable of becoming Adjuchas again.

The Adjuchas are highly individual, contrasting sharply with their Gillian counterparts. They are often animalistic in appearance, though this is a generalization, and the size of extremely large animals. They are generally quite intelligent. Adjuchas possess many different abilities and strengths, though little is known about them as they are quite rare and almost never leave Hueco Mundo.

Even less is known of the Adjuchas Class Arrancar. These are formed naturally through the hollow's own removal of its mask. It is unknown how this occurs, and most of these creations are considered 'incomplete'. This mask removal may allow the hollow to access abilities similar to that of a shinigami (unconfirmed).

Vasto Lordes

The Vasto Lordes class of Menos is extremely rare. They are of a level higher even then a Shinigami Captain, and are the final class of Menos. They, too, rarely leave Hueco Mundo, though reasons for this behaviour are unknown. Some have theorized that the less reishi-dense air of Soul Society and the living world is unable to sustain them, while others believe that they are merely biding their time and waiting for more Adjuchas to evolve to their level. Their evolution, having come to an end, is halted, as is their deterioration. They no longer require souls to maintain their level, though excessive consumption of high level souls may result in their power increasing. They are the smallest class of Menos, both in size and population, and possess extremely high levels of intelligence. They have consumed upwards of ten thousand souls in their lifetimes.

No Vasto Lordes class Arrancar have ever been confirmed to exist.

Orihime shut the book, checking the publish date. It had been written 5 years ago. Her mind flashed to Ulquiorra, thinking of the souls that he had consumed, the ruthless battle towards evolution that he had fought. She wondered if he had ever achieved Vasto Lordes level. His intelligence and his strength supported that he had, meaning he'd consumed at least ten thousand souls. A small town, all destroyed by one person...

Ulquiorra walked to his palace, hand deep in his pockets as he scanned the reiatsu around him. No threats anywhere. Absently, he wondered how Aizen and his force were doing in Karakura Town. Still, not his problem. If Aizen was defeated, little would change for the Cuatro Espada. He would continue living, as he always had. Orihime, he did not know. There were...some options, but few of them viable, and fewer still that she would agree too. Still, worth mentioning, depending on the results of the Karakura Battle.

Dust billowed behind him as he walked, his coattails flying behind him. The green of his eyes and cheeks were the only colours around him, in the white vacuum of Hueco Mundo, under its pale moon. Bored, he reached his palace and entered, heading straight to his quarters.

Sighing, he changed into his training pants, removing his shoes and socks to leave his feet bare. He kept his zippered jacket on, concealing his tattoo. He doubted he'd have to remove it for what would likely be basic training. Indeed, it would be a good exercise in self-control to avoid severely harming her.

Ulquiorra strode to the training room, and looking inside, found it empty. He felt her reiatsu in the library, and walked in to find her putting a book away.

Orihime jumped as she felt Ulquiorra's dark reiatsu enter the room. She watched his light grace and the coiled strength of his movements as a rabbit watches a tiger, fear across her face. She could see his eyes narrow slightly and his frown deepen as he read her fear, so easily. She hated that he could read her so easily, that she displayed her emotions so strongly. "What were you reading?" He asked.  
"A book, about hollows." She replied.  
"Then, you must know about the three classes of Menos that the Espada are drawn from. I assume you are curious to know what rank I was before my mask was broken?"  
"Yes, I would."  
"I was an Adjuchas, but I was a rather... Unusual case."  
"Unusual. What do you mean, unusual?" Orihime asked, confused.  
Slowly, Ulquiorra replied. "I was on the verge of evolution when I entered a state of...suspended animation, I suppose. A few more souls and I likely would have achieved Vasto Lordes class. Interestingly, a very strong Adjuchas can often beat a very weak Vasto Lordes, though there are very few weak Vasto Lordes." He said, watching her reaction.

Orihime gulped as he continued, "Were you still interested in training? Aizen and much of the Espada have departed to Karakura town, and I would be willing to show you how to operate the training souls."  
She nodded, and together they entered the training room.


	10. Chapter 10

Ulquiorra watched in fascination as the woman tried to fight him, parrying easily with his hands as her tiny sprite flew at him again and again. The determination on her face, her strength, it was captivating. Though she was no match for him, for any of the Espada, he could see that she had...potential. Still, it was painfully obvious that her powers would never be able to grow powerful enough as an attacking force without years of training. Delicately, he plucked the little man out of the air. It hissed and cursed at him, though he paid it no mind. Walking over to his storeroom, he pulled out a small katana. He kept a few weapons around to train against, this one he generally gave the faster or smaller gigai/mod-soul combinations. He doubted that the woman would be able to easily wield a very large weapon, and so he carried it out to her, the little man (Tsubaki?) in his other hand.

"Here. If I give you back your little guardian, will you tell it to refrain from attacking me for a moment?" He asked.  
"Sure, why?" Orihime replied.  
Ulquiorra handed her the katana, hilt first. She took it, weighing it in her hands. "You want me to use this?" She asked in surprise.  
"Yes. This one attack is not strong enough to provide an adequate offence. You should learn to use a weapon anyway, in case you are unable to use you powers. Now... Try to hit me. Use the little man as well." He said, ignoring the sprite's shouts of protest. "TSUBAKI! My name is TSUBAKI, you asshole!"

"Um... Ulquiorra, aren't you going to unsheathed your sword?" Orihime asked. "See if you can make me need to.", he replied. Resolve crossed Orihime's face as she immediately lashed out with the katana. He blocked it with his hand, watching her face change to shock. Tsubaki flew at him, and he blocked the sword with one hand and the katana with the other. Orihime's eyes narrowed in concentration as she tried to find an opening, slashing and hacking with her sword. Still, he blocked it with ease. Suddenly, Tsubaki and the sword attacked his head at once, and he threw up his forearm. Checking his strength, he pushed back at her sword, throwing her backwards a metre. Bruised, she stood as Tsubaki continued to fly at him. Still, she ran at him again.

He was surprised by her determination, though he was still able to block all of her attacks. Even though the fire in her eyes distracted him, and Tsubaki continued to throw insults at him. He, unlike many of the other Espada, was not so easily provoked to react to the small fighter's rather inventive curses. His cold mind was one of the things that Aizen prized about him.

Eventually, as the woman began to sweat and slow, he captured Tsubaki again. "That is enough, for today. I'll show you which souls to use in the gigais now."  
Orihime grimaced, panting as she replied, "No! I still haven't made you even move from your spot on the floor! I can keep going!" She exclaimed angrily. Icily, he countered, pointing out her slowness and exhaustion and his superior stamina. "You will have to train with the gigais when I am not here to help you. Unless you have decided against training?" He challenged. Orihime glared at him as he explained the mod-souls' enhancements and which would be most beneficial for her to train against, and which gigais she should use them in. "Do not think of training further today, you are already too exhausted and further exertion would likely cause damage to yourself." He reminded her, and her glare grew stronger. Uncaring, left the training room with her following.

Ulquiorra went to his quarters, while she went to make some food for herself. He continued to scan the surrounding reiatsu as he undressed and cleaned himself before climbing up to the rooftop. "Murcielago, enclose." He whispered as wings burst from his back and he left his palace.

Ulquiorra could still sense the woman's reiatsu as he flew silently overhead, hunting. Though he disliked it, fighting against mod-souls was light work for him. Out in Hueco Mundo was where he truly trained, against other Adjuchas if he could find them, and Gillians if he was unlucky. Finally, he locked onto a relatively strong Adjuchas reiatsu and turned towards it. He could feel Grimmjow's reiatsu far off as well, and felt the Sexta Espada race towards the Adjuchas as he sensed it. Trash, Ulquiorra thought. The Sexta would steal his training partner. How irritating. Still, Ulquiorra didn't want any of the other Espada to see him train, so he flew off in another direction before the fight-happy Sexta sensed him.

Hours he flew before he found a new Adjuchas, this one stronger then the last. He watched it overhead for a moment. This one was large, with a dull green, lizard-like body. Its tail was the same colour, lined with black spikes with barbed ends. Its 'hands' and 'feet' ended in black nails with a sickly green hue to them. Ulquiorra watched as it noticed him and turned to look up at him. "Arrancar. Leave this place, traitor, servant of the Shinigami." He rasped in the distorted hollow tongue.  
Lapsing back into Hollow, Ulquiorra replied. "To me, you are trash to be used to get stronger. Fight with me or die."  
"Very well. Come down to the ground then, bat."  
Ulquiorra dropped from the sky as the lizard-Adjuchas rushed at him, lashing his tail. Easily, he dodged with sonido and sliced the edge of the tail off with his zanpaktou. The lizard-Adjuchas hissed in pain as the tail grew back. The thing was surprisingly fast, and Ulquiorra fought it for a whole ten minutes before killing it. No Adjuchas could stand against the strength of an Arrancar, let alone an Espada.

Still, the quick fight had left his body feeling more awakened then it did when he fought the gigais. He jumped into the air again and flew back to the palace, avoiding Grimmjow's reiatsu as he flew.

Orihime wandered through the kitchen, looking at the ingredients and trying to draw upon the usual inspiration that seized her during cooking. Still, her mind kept circling back to her fight with Ulquiorra. He had so easily outclassed her... It made her angry to think of. In all honesty,she hadn't felt anything so strongly since Kurosaki-Kun's death than her anger and humiliation at having been so easily beaten. At her current rate she wouldn't be able to do anything other than heal, and she wasn't going to be doing much healing around Ulquiorra, with his high-speed regeneration. Sighing, she looked blankly at the head of lettuce and fish sauce she was holding. Chopping the lettuce violently, she summoned Tsubaki. He hovered in front of her, arms crossed in front of his chest. "What do you want me for, woman. Have you finally decided to learn how to use me properly?" He asked, bitterly. "Are you upset as well, Tsubaki-kun?" She asked.  
"Of course I'm upset! The only reason I'm so weak is because of you! If you bothered to train with me, if you really wanted to hurt and kill your opponent, then we could have made that asshole use his sword!"  
Orihime frowned at him. "I'm sorry, Tsubaki-kun, I'll start training with you more, I promise. Together, we'll get stronger!" Tsubaki shrugged, and disappeared. Sighing again, she stir-fried the lettuce with some anchovies and jam she'd found, mixing it with noodles, wasabi and the fish sauce. After she'd eaten and cleaned, she went to bed.

Ulquiorra touched down on the roof of his palace, feeling sensing the woman's sleeping reiatsu stir as he walked down the steps. He walked to his room, and let a pulse of his reiatsu corse through the stone floor at the foot of his bed. The stone melted away and he leapt downwards, landing lightly. The stone sealed up above him, leaving him in almost total sensory deprivation. Carefully, he checked for the remnants of reiatsu that would be left if someone had found their way into his secret place. Once he was satisfied that no one had trespassed, he let another current of reiatsu circulate through the walls of the chamber, lighting the torches around him with an eerie green glow. The walls were all mirrored, and everywhere he looked, his own eyes looked back.

Slowly, he drew Murcielago and stood with it in his hands, letting his mine focus on nothing but the sword and the spirit within it. The familiar feeling of being pulled into his spirit world overwhelmed him, and when he opened his eyes, he looked out on very different surroundings.

"You're here, Ulquiorra. I was wondering if you would come."  
"Of course I would come, Murcielago." Ulquiorra responded. Two figures stood in front of him, a Shinigami and a Hollow. The Hollow was familiar, it was him as he had been before Aizen had removed his mask. The Shinigami, less familiar. It was a man of his height and build with his hair, his face and his eyes. It was him if he had been a human. The Shinigami rarely spoke, and when he did, it was rarely pleasant. Murcielago was the name of the Hollow, of the strength sealed in his sword. It was too him that he spoke. "You spoke to me of something beyond Resssureçion. Tell me, what secret do you speak of?"  
"As every Shinigami is capable of two releases, so to are you. Ressureçion is the first of these. The second, has no name. Do you wish to learn it?"  
"Of course."  
"Then, prove that you can." The hollow lunged towards him, as Ulquiorra blocked it with his sword. They danced across the bleak, dead forest that was Ulquiorra's soul world, while the moon watched overhead.

The Shinigami watched the battle from the thick fog that covered much of the forest, frowning. He had no name, no strength in this world. Here, he was uninvited, and he knew it. Murcielago made certain he was well aware of his standing.

The Shinigami watched the fierce fight with a vague sort of jealousy. He had never been allowed to fight Ulquiorra before. Ulquiorra had not approached him. He was so alone, in this dead forest. No colour, no life to amuse him. He was dead inside, the god of death reflected. He nearly smiled at the irony, but he had not smiled since he had first woken in this forest, with the hollow. He wished that Ulquiorra would try to use him, someday. He knew so much that would help him... He held so many secrets. Still, he resented him enough that the secrets would not be divulged easily. He watched as Ulquiorra went into release-no ressureçion, his wings exploding outwards. He wondered what this final form that the hollow was always ranting about would look like. Bored, the shinigami jumped into the air to watch the fight from a better angle. When, finally, Murcielago had exhausted Ulquiorra and stabbed him through his hollow hole, he was only slightly surprised as Ulquiorra's reiatsu exploded. The hollow told him all of its secrets, out of boredom and the sort of camaraderie shared only by two beings forced to live together in the same desolate soul world. Slowly, the glow of Ulquiorra's power dimmed as his reiatsu condensed around him and began to rain down. Ulquiorra nodded at the hollow, then lashed out with his newfound tail, wrapping it around the hollow's neck. Instinctively, he formed a green energy lance and stabbed it through Murcielago's throat, defeating the hollow. Finally emerging from his place in the sky, the Shinigami dropped from the sky behind Ulquiorra.

"You defeated him, then. What of me? Will you seek to understand your shinigami nature as well, Arrancar?", he asked. Ulquiorra replied emptily, "Yes. Now I have mastered him, I shall seek to learn more about you, as well, shinigami." The shinigami nodded, and sighed as Ulquiorra left. Murcielago pulled himself from the ground and watched as the shinigami jumped back up in the trees. Sighing, Murcielago flew upwards, circling around aimlessly.

**Special Bonus Author Notes Section**

Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading the first ten chapters of my story! I took a few liberties with Ulquiorra's soul world, as it was never really mentioned. I took the two separate incarnations (hollow and shinigami) from Ichigo's soul world, but made the Shinigami powers the nameless one instead. Anyway, once Ulquiorra starts to learn more about his Shinigami nature, I'm thinking things will start to get really interesting.

Also, I know that a few of you are probably starting to get frustrated with the lack of romance between Orihime and Ulquiorra. As a rabid UlquiHime shipper, the way I see it is that Orihime is still recovering from Ichigo's death, even if it is somewhat subconscious. Also, Ulquiorra doesn't really get emotions. He knows that Orihime makes him feel strange, but he hasn't really managed to understand things yet. Don't worry! It's coming, I promise!

Also, please write reviews! Especially if they're negative, though I am human and don't mind praise either. Seriously, I can't improve without criticism! Also, if you have any questions about anything I've written, ask me! Seriously, I'm not that busy!

Anyway, that's it from me, enjoy the story!  
-/- Student-of-the-Game


	11. Chapter 11

Ulquiorra opened his eyes, wincing as the light burned them. Even the dim torchlight in this cavern hurt after spending over an hour in his soul world. Blinking a few times, his eyes returned to normal quickly. Sighing in a vague sort of annoyance, he noticed that at some point his body had gone into released state. Quickly, he sealed Murcielago once more and let his reiatsu course through the stone walls. The roof above him melted away enough for him to jump up through it before breaking the connection, erasing the hole once more. Yawning slightly, he took off his jacket and pants, slipping on some loose bottoms and falling asleep almost instantly.

A few hours later, Orihime woke and got dressed. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she made herself some eggs with wasabi and raisins for breakfast. After she cleaned the dishes, she closed her eyes and searched the reiatsu around her. She could feel Ulquiorra in his wing of the palace, but his reiatsu seemed darker than normal, violent cold. She shivered, wondering what was going on. Suddenly, his reiatsu lashed out blindly, growing in strength. She gasped and knelt on the floor as it overpowered her, panting as her vision began to blur. Slowly, she crawled forward, out of the door and down her hallway, towards him. Whatever was going on, she had to stop it before his rapidly growing reiatsu did any damage. Slowly, she pulled herself down, finally reaching the circular entrance hall. Collapsing in the centre, she panted and struggled for consciousness until his monstrous reiatsu condensed slightly. In the gap, she released santen kesshun, which seemed to be able to block his wild reiatsu enough to allow her to walk again. Slowly, as his reiatsu grew again, she walked towards him.

_He was standing in the desert of Hueco Mundo, alone. At first, all was quiet and there was no one around him, but then the whispering began. At first, at the edge of his consciousness, brushing around his ears, but growing louder as the voices fought him for control. He howled as the voices pushed at his temples, worming their way through his eyes, his ears, his mouth. Though he could not see them, he could feel them. They fought him mercilessly, trying to drive him mad and take over his iron control. He screamed at the sky as they grew louder and louder, an endless cacophony inside of him. He could feel his reiatsu lashing out in blind panic as they pulled at him, urging him to give in, to let them take control. Forcing him to his knees in the sand, he knelt and screamed again as the voices ripped at his mind. There were no hollows to consume to strengthen him, no way of ending the pain. His throat began to bleed as an endless howl tore out of his throat, and he could feel his regeneration replacing the skin as it was destroyed. Murcielago was heavy on his hip as the spirits within it reacted to his torment, but there was no enemy to fight. Nothing that he could see, that he could defeat._

_Somehow he stayed above the voices, his reiatsu ballooning out as he fought them. Still, he knew he could not win, that he was only postponing the inevitable. The voices screamed their victory as his senses began to shut down. Finally, as they tore through his mind in their victorious dance, the loudest among them screamed at him and pushed him from his place, taking over. Ulquiorra was trapped with all the other voices, now locked in the same battle for dominance in the dark void that they lived in._

Finally, Orihime reached Ulquiorra's room. The reiatsu here was so strong and dense, she felt as though she was walking through quicksand trying to enter the arch. She saw him, surrounded by his own reiatsu, lying still in the centre of his bed. Slowly, she pushed towards him as his reiatsu thrashed around her, in stark contrast to his almost peaceful looking body. His eyes moved rapidly beneath his eyelids, and she carefully called his name.

Ulquiorra's eyes flew open as he woke, using sonido to stand behind the woman as he reached out to kill. "Santen Kesshun!" She shouted as his hand hit the shield, sending cracks through it. Abruptly, he stepped backwards as he realized what was happening. Quickly, he hid his reiatsu. A rare burst of humiliation rushed through him as he realized that he had been dreaming, and must have lost control of his reiatsu. She had probably felt it and had come to...help him.

"Inoue-San... I apologize for this. I seem to have lost control of my reiatsu in my rest, an unforgivable lapse in control. Also, I apologize for attacking you." He said, softly.  
Orihime's face turned pink. "Ulquiorra, what was that?", she asked. "What were you dreaming of?".  
Ulquiorra frowned, coldly replying, "It was nothing. I apologize for my lapse of control."  
Orihime frowned back at him. "Ulquiorra, I know that you were having a nightmare. If you tell me about it, it may help."  
"No. It does not matter now, nor will it happen again. Please, Inoue-San, leave here for now... I will get dressed and help you train, should you wish to train." He replied, offering the incentive of training.  
"Get...dressed?" Orihime repeated, abruptly realizing that he was wearing nothing but loose, white pants. There, on his chest, was a gothic, black 4. "You are the fourth?" She asked in shock.  
"Yes. I am the Cuatro Espada." He replied as she stared in shock at his chest.  
Orihime blushed deeper and quickly looked away, leaving the room quickly.

Ulquiorra's confusion with the woman's behaviours grew as he rinsed the slight film of sweat that had coated him while he dreamt. Still, the shakes that he had hidden in front of the woman racked his body, and the slightest hint of a sound caused him to look wildly. Standing in his shower, he could feel his reiatsu fighting against his control, expanding and strengthening in response to his fear. Slowly, he breathed deeply, trying to calm himself down as memories he thought he had suppressed resurfaced. Against his instinct, he shut his eyes and put his hands on the wall, bracing himself as hot water pounded his back. Slowly, he examined the memories, then drowned them again. Slowly, his breathing slowed as the shaking stopped and his reiatsu settled. Opening his eyes again, he stepped out of the shower and dried himself. The souls that he had consumed had not troubled him since Aizen had broken his mask, turning him into an Arrancar with the Hougyoukou.

He dressed himself again, belting Murcielago to his hip, the weight of it calming him further. Silently, he strode towards the training room.

Orihime examined her closet, which had been mysteriously filled with clothes in her size since she'd come to Ulquiorra's palace. She found a light tank and shorts and slipped them on, tying her long, orange hair back in a ponytail. Barefoot, she walked to the training room. Her body had mostly recovered from Ulquiorra's reiatsu storm, but she still felt jittery as she remembered the intensity of it. His reiatsu had been so filled with anger and hatred, she shuddered as she remembered it. Now, she could feel only traces of him, and they were all characteristically empty. She wasn't used to him displaying emotions so strongly, and it had unnerved her. That, and finding him in the middle of a nightmare. She wondered what could possibly torment the Cuatro Espada's dreams.

Thinking about finding him again, she felt her cheeks heat as she remembered staring at his chest. She'd been surprised at how muscular he was, he was built like a marathon runner. Still, seeing that black number 4 had shocked her. The thought of three more Espada that were stronger than him... What must the first be like, she asked herself.

Finally, she got to the training room and began to stretch as she waited for him.


	12. Chapter 12

Ulquiorra stepped into the training room. Orihime looked up from her stretches as he went to the storeroom and retrieved her katana. "Here." He said as he handed it to her. She nodded in thanks as she stood and grabbed the sword. Ulquiorra shuddered internally at the traces of pity in her eyes. He hated that look. He and Orihime stood opposite each other, both assuming their ready stances. Quickly, he leapt forward and lashed out with his hand as she released her Shun Shun Rikka. "Santen Kesshun!" She shouted, barely blocking him in time. Easily, he flipped above her, stabbing towards the back of her neck before being blocked by her shield again. Though he didn't use sonido against her, he was still light and fast, attacking her sides, back and front in a flurry of blows.

Every time, she managed to block him with Santen Kesshun, and he didn't bother staying in one place for long enough to break the shield. He was treating this as a warm-up for her, getting her reflexes working. After a few minutes, Ulquiorra twisted back in front of her again, stabbing at her throat. Again, the shield blocked him, but this time he pressed against it harder, testing its strength. It held against his attack, and his frown lightened as he began to allow his natural hierro to reform around him. Finally, the shield cracked and shattered. Orihime reflexively threw up her arm to block him, forcing his arm back. "Soten Kisshun!" She cried out as another shield formed around her. Ulquiorra hit out again, only to be forced backwards by a sudden explosion. "You can take your opponent's force and retaliate with an explosion? That is useful.", he said. Orihime's eyes brightened slightly at his praise, shouting "Koten Zanshun!" In return as Tsubaki broke from the shield and flew towards him. Still, Ulquiorra was able to block him with one hand.

Tsubaki continued to attack him, until Ulquiorra grew bored with the ineffective attack and grabbed him from the air. "Can you heal your sprites?" He asked. Orihime nodded, as he replied, "Good.", and crushed Tsubaki, throwing him to Orihime's feet. Not entirely surprised, she knelt to pick him up as he attacked her again. Her shield repelled most of his attack, though she stumbled backwards as it shattered from his force. Having to leave Tsubaki, she stepped backwards as he kept attacking, barely able to dodge him, despite his consciously slowed attacks. Finally, she grabbed her katana and sliced towards him with that. Still, he pushed it aside with his forearm and continued to force her backwards until she was pushed against a wall.

"You see, that I am not to be pitied, woman. I am the Cuatro Espada. I do not want your sadness on my behalf, especially when it is unwarranted." Though he spoke softly and coldly, as usual, Orihime shook slightly at the force in his words. She nodded, and he stepped backwards. "Your Soten Kisshun is a good technique. I would expect it to be effective against most opponents, though most Espada ranked above 8 would probably be able to destroy it." He sighed, and continued, "These...sprites... Their effectiveness is based on your will, is it not?" Orihime nodded as he frowned. "Then, the reason that your Koten Zanshun is so weak is because you are unwilling to seriously attack or kill me. Why?"  
Orihime blushed, stating, "I'm a pacifist. I don't like to fight."  
"Then, you will end up dead unless I am around to protect you. Remember, you can not rely on the Shinigami boy any more."  
"I just... Fighting isn't in my nature. I don't want to kill anyone!"

Irritation file Ulquiorra as he listened to the woman. Not wanting to kill? Pathetic. In this world, those who wouldn't kill would be killed. It was simple, and nothing could change that. He refused to allow her to depend on him to protect her if another Arrancar or a hollow turned up. She would have to learn to kill, or she would never be strong.

"This is pointless." He stated. Slipping on his jacket, he strode to the storeroom and retrieved a gigai and modsoul. After he inserted the pill, he threw the gigai at her feet. "The modsoul will remain unharmed unless you destroy the pill itself. Now, kill the gigai."  
"No! Why should I! It's completely defenceless, I don't need to kill it! She shouted, angrily.  
"It may not be a threat right now, but it could become one. Kill it, before it kills you." He said, coldly.  
Orihime shook her head, pointedly taking a step back from the gigai.  
"Then, woman, let me show you what happens if you will not kill when you have the chance." He said, as the gigai rose and unsheathed its sword. Rushing her, she barely got the shield up before it struck out. Ulquiorra watched as the gigai fought. He had used one of the strongest soul/body combinations, and expected it to overwhelm her easily. The training dummy hacked at her shield until it shattered, and before she could react, it slashed across her stomach. Orihime yelled out in pain as blood welled up from the wound. Again, the dummy struck, this time at her head. She managed to block it with her own sword, but it easily overpowered her and cut down her cheek. Finally, once more it avoided her weak block and slashed down her leg.

Ulquiorra moved behind the gigai with sonido and pinned its arms behind its back. "Now, kill it." He said. Orihime's eyes burned with hatred as she finally lifted her katana and sliced through the gigai's neck. Quickly, Ulquiorra took his jacket off again and tied it tightly around her stomach, the worst of the cuts before grabbing some bandages from the storeroom. There was a sink and some cloths in the storeroom, and he ran one under some warm water, grabbing some bandages on the way out. He used her katana to cut away the bottom half of her shirt before cleaning away the blood and bandaging it properly and tightly. The bandages had been soaking in a solution that quickly stopped the bleeding as he held her leg and wrapped the cut. Finally, he put a large plaster over her cheek. The bleeding stopped, she would be fine once she was conscious and got her Shun Shun Rikka to heal her. Annoyed, he grabbed the soul pill out of the gigai, then carried the body over to a large bin of dismembered dummies. Later, he'd get Szayel to fix them.

Gently, he carried Orihime back to her room and laid her on the bed. Sighing, he sat down in the chair and waited for her to wake up again.

A while later, Orihime opened her eyes. Ulquiorra was sitting in the chair next to her bed, one leg crossed over his thigh and his eyes closed. "Ulquiorra... How long was I unconscious for?" She asked. "2 and a half hours." He replied, without opening his eyes. "Have you been waiting for me to wake up this whole time?"  
"Yes." He replied, dully.  
"Oh...thank you." Ulquiorra finally opened his eyes and looked at her. "Are you going to heal yourself, Inoue-San?", he asked. Orihime blushed as she looked down at her bandages. Quickly, she healed herself, though the sprites glared death at Ulquiorra the whole time. Strangely, Ulquiorra felt some slight vestiges of guilt under their gaze, though he knew his actions were both justified and required. He looked away as she unwrapped her bandages and checked over her healing. Finally, she sealed away her sprites, and he felt slightly more at ease without their tiny eyes seemingly boring holes into him.

Orihime giggled a little as one of them whispered something in her ear before rejoining her hairpieces. "They don't like you." She said, still giggling a little. Irritated, Ulquiorra replied, dryly, "I noticed." Orihime laughed a little harder. "Did you just...use...humour?!" She asked, amazed. Ulquiorra merely looked at her, and she burst out into full-blown laughs. Oddly, Ulquiorra felt his habitual frown soften as he listened to her laughter. It was the first time she had been so happy since he'd met her. The corners of his mouth quirked upwards slightly at her laughter, though he settled into his natural, neutral face before she noticed.

Once she had stopped laughing long enough to speak, he asked her if she was okay. She frowned slightly as she replied, "Yes... I'm fine now, and I know that someday, I'll probably need to kill. I've always known that, I suppose. I've killed hollows before... Still, it was always when they threatened someone I cared about. But, I'll try to train more with Tsubaki, and learn more offensive techniques. You know, you're the first person who's ever encouraged me to learn anything other than defensive and healing tactics... I suppose I'd grown used to thinking that's all I would ever have to do, or all I was supposed to do."  
Ulquiorra frowned, replying, "I am not like Grimmjow or Nnoitra, blindly seeking out fights for the joy of killing. I do not enjoy fighting, particularly. All I ask is that you become strong enough to fight on even ground with most of those in Las Noches. It is clear that the offensive capabilities of your Shun Shun Rikka are underused and have great potential. It is not fair to allow you to ignore your own strength, nor do I think that you would benefit in the long run without knowing how to fight. I apologize for your injuries, but I can not apologize for making you learn how to stand against enemies."

Orihime nodded, smiling sadly at him. "Thank you, Ulquiorra. Tell me, if you don't enjoy fighting, what do you like to do?" She asked. Ulquiorra looked at her, slightly surprised at her question. He had never been asked what he liked to do before. "I don't enjoy anything. I am, after all, the Emptiness Espada. I do not feel such emotions." He said, coldly. Orihime's face fell as he left her room. "Idiot... I know you can feel. You think I don't notice? I can see that the Espada, even Aizen, wouldn't, but I've been with you for a while now. Of course you can feel." She whispered as he left.


	13. Chapter 13

Ulquiorra walked back to his room, ignoring the woman's whispered words behind him. He did not care whether she thought he could feel or not. Indeed, he had been lying, somewhat, when he claimed he was truly unfeeling. Ulquiorra had emotions; but the most part he was numb and empty. When he did feel, it was shallow and meaningless, and rarely a positive emotion. Irritation, and today, embarrassment, was all that he really had ever felt. That, and that feeling he had had when she was laughing...

Irritation again, this time with himself. He had better things to be doing than this ridiculous internal monologue. Finally, he entered his quadrant of the palace and strode up to the rooftop. His eyesight was sharper than that of a human, and of many hollows, but he could not see any signs of disturbance around his palace. "_Pesquisa_." He said, feeling his reiatsu spread thinly out across Las Noches. Grimmjow was back in his own palace. Yammy seemed to have returned from the desert, presumably back from a hunting trip, and was already walking towards Ulquiorra's palace. Szayel was still in his lab, doing whatever it was that he did. Zommari was in his palace, meditating, based on the smoothness of his reiatsu.

Sighing, he walked down to the entranceway just as Yammy's overlarge fist began to pound against the stone. "Ulquiorra! Ulquiorra? Are you there?", the 10th Espada shouted. Ulquiorra rolled his eyes as he pressed his palm against the door, causing the stone to melt away with his reiatsu. Yammy's hand abruptly fell threw the door, causing Ulquiorra to throw up a hand in annoyance as he was nearly given a black eye. "Yammy, you idiot. Have you not been working on sensing reiatsu at all?" Ulquiorra asked, irritated by his oafish behaviour. Yammy blushed slightly and looked at the ground under Ulquiorra's cold stare. "What do you want, Yammy?" Ulquiorra asked as the large Espada began to tremble slightly under Ulquiorra's glare. "I thought I would ask you where Aizen-sama is. It's so boring around here without him and I can't find anymore Adjuchas to fight." Yammy's strange hollow puppy was also missing, prompting Ulquiorra to imagine that the presumed death of it was Yammy's real reason for turning up at his door. _Trash_, Ulquiorra thought, but instead walked outside to stand with Yammy as the door melted shut behind him.

"I do not know how long Aizen-sama shall be. It has only been a few days, Yammy. Still, if you insist, llI will check what is going on, though I see little point." Ulquiorra felt his reiatsu sharpen around his hand as he clicked his fingers, forcing his reiatsu to become incredibly thin and split the barrier between Hueco Mundo and the living world. As Yammy staggered backwards in shock, Ulquiorra turned to look into the garganta.

The fake Karakura Town that both Aizen and Ulquiorra had expected was in rubble, destroyed completely. Frowning, Ulquiorra switched the garganta to view real Karakura Town. Still, only the signs of battle. "_Pesquisa_." Ulquiorra breathed as his reiatsu burst out of the garganta and spread across Karakura Town. Finally, he touched Aizen's reiatsu, and he opened a new garganta where he sensed him. Shinigami surrounded his once-master, binding him as he sat on the ground and laughed. Ulquiorra could sense that he had fused with the Hougyoukou, but with each binding the effects of this fusion evaporated. Finally, Aizen's eyes settled on Ulquiorra's face, gazing out from the garganta. "My dear Espada," he began, "you know what Soul Society, believing in their victory, will do. I would ask that you survive without me, for now. Take the others with you, should you desire, but you are the strongest and most important." Aizen began to smile widely as Ulquiorra abruptly shut the garganta as the shinigami began to notice him. Turning, he looked at Yammy's shocked face.

"Aizen-sama has fallen?", he asked in disbelief. Not deigning to explain, Ulquiorra simply nodded. "Go, Yammy. Perhaps you will be able to grow stronger without any restrictions to your... Diet." Ulquiorra shrugged as he slipped his hand back in his pocket. Yammy'a face darkened with rage. "Ulquiorra! Open another garganta! Let me through, I'll save Aizen-sama!", he shouted. "Yammy, you idiot. If Aizen himself has been captured, what do you think you can do? You may be the 0 Espada in Ressureccion, but you are nowhere near Aizen-sama's level." Yammy's face grew darker still, and he shouted again. "What, Cuatro? Do you think you can control me forever? I'm stronger than you, and I'll prove it! I'll make you open the garganta!" With that, Yammy lashed out at Ulquiorra's head. Nonchalantly pulling one hand from his pockets, Ulquiorra easily blocked the attack. Without moving from his spot, he hit Yammy's stomach and forced him off of his doorstep. Finally, Yammy began to grow larger rapidly. Ulquiorra sighed as Yammy shouted his release.

"_Enclose, Murcielago_.", Ulquiorra breathed under the noise of Yammy's release. As his own reiatsu grew and his wings burst from his back, he reached outwards, stating, "_Luz de la Luna_." A green lance of his own reiatsu solidified in his hands as he used sonido to appear on Yammy's back, holding the lance against his throat. "Yammy, you never learn. In terms of reiatsu you are the strongest of us all, yet your intelligence will always be your downfall. Trash.", He stated as he reached backwards and stabbed the lance through Yammy's neck. Instantly, it exploded inside of him, his own hierro confining the force to his throat. The explosion blinded Ulquiorra for a moment, and reflexively he leapt off of Yammy and stretched out his wings as the gigantic fist that head been aiming for him crashed into Yammy's own body. As the Cero Espada disappeared, Ulquiorra dropped to the ground again, sealing Murcielago. Sighing, he re-entered the castle. Soon, the shinigami would arrive, and he was not interested in fighting with them.


	14. Chapter 14

Kenpachi strode into the captain's meeting, taking his place with the others. After a long moment, Commander Yamamoto began to speak. "Though we have captured the traitor, Aizen Sosuke, the remaining Espada still pose a threat to both the living world and Soul Society. The other traitor, Inoue Orihime, is also still in Hueco Mundo. Captains Kuchiki, Kenpachi, Unohana and...Hirako. You may choose up to seated officers to invade Hueco Mundo with. Your task is to eliminate or capture the Espada and Inoue Orihime." Kenpachi grinned at the orders. He recalled the fourth Espada had been absent from the Karakura battle, and was itching to test his strength. The captains all nodded at Yamamoto's orders and left the meeting.

"Yo! Ikkaku, Yumichika, you wanna come to Hueco Mundo?", Kenpachi shouted as he entered the squad 11 headquarters. "Of course, Captain!" Ikkaku yelled back as both he and Yumichika appeared at his side. Yachiru jumped on his shoulder, pounding his back. "Ken-chan! Are you going to fight the Espada?" She asked, excitedly. "Yup." He replied.  
"Yay! Ken-chan's going to go beat them up!" Yachiru shouted as he began to run for the Senkai Gate. Yumichika and Ikkaku followed close behind. He couldn't wait to see what these Espada were made of.

Renji ran behind his captain through Hueco Mundo. Rukia ran next to him as the sand lashed blew up behind them. They leapt from dune to dune with shunpo as Las Noches approached on the horizon. He could feel the reiatsu of the Espada, and he smiled at Rukia as they got closer. They were both looking forward to saving Orihime and seeing her again. Once she was back they could easily prove that she had not been a traitor at all, but kidnapped. As the only surviving member of the Karakura Ryoka, she was a valuable person. Still, Renji could feel Rukia's reiatsu darken the closer they got as she thought of Ichigo's death. His face hardened as he resolved to find the Espada that had killed Ichigo and avenge his death.

Shinji frowned as he grew closer to the fortress of Las Noches. His lieutenant was still too sick to come on the mission, so he had taken Izuru Kira and Hisagi Shuuhei instead. He knew they were both capable fighters and was happy with his team, but something about the fortress felt...off. Quickly, he stopped his shunpo as Izuru and Hisagi appeared next to him. "Does anything feel off to you?" He asked them. They both looked confused, and he sighed. "Never mind, let's keep moving." He said, and they leapt off the crest of the sand dune and continued to shunpo towards the fortress.

Unohana smiled as she finally reached the walls of the fortress. As Isane began to chant the incantation for a Kidou to blast the walls down, she felt out with her reiatsu, hunting for the Espada. Though her serene smile never slipped, she could feel the bloodlust rising up inside of her. _I'll have to beat Zaraki if I want to fight any of the strong ones..._, she thought. Still, Yamamoto's orders echoed in her mind. _Captain Unohana, you must stay back and avoid engaging the enemy. You will be needed for healing only!_, he had thundered at her after the other captains had left. She sighed, suppressing her desire to fight once more.

"Hado number 31! Shakkaho!" Isane shouted as the fireball exploded against the wall, blasting a huge hole. Distantly, other explosions could be heard as the other teams entered Las Noches. Smiling, Unohana, Isane and Hanataro flash-stepped through the hole and waited for the first of the fights to begin. They would wait until someone needed healing, or until they were approached by an enemy. Quickly, Hanataro began to prepare his medicines for the upcoming injuries. Sighing, Unohana watched for the beginning of the fights.

Rukia followed behind Byakuya with Renji. They had locked onto an Espada level reiatsu and were nearly at its source. She could feel her own reiatsu slowly expanding, and judging by the looks Renji was shooting her, her emotions were colouring it. Still, she didn't care. As long as she could get vengeance for Ichigo's death, that was what mattered. For, though at his death, he had appeared in Soul Society, he had no memories. That was what it meant, to have high reiatsu. It was why none of the Shinigami could remember their lives before Soul Society; their reiatsu simply burned those past experiences away. Soul Society had a strict non-interference policy on new residents of the Rukongai, especially if they had high reiatsu, so she had not even been able to see Ichigo since his death. She would have to wait until he entered the Shinigami Academy, and graduated.

Not only that, but his family... Yuzu and Karin... His friends in the living world... Her fury kept her moving, kept the tears locked inside. That was all she needed. Soon, the Espada would all pay for the pain they'd caused.

Byakuya hunted the Espada's reiatsu, moving slower than normal so that Renji and Rukia could keep up. He could feel his sister's anger behind him, and resolved to try to kill the Espada before she could. It would not be...healthy, to allow her to fight in this sort of state. Frowning, he stood directly above where the Espada's reiatsu seemed to be coming from. His reiatsu briefly pulsed as a sign to the others that he had found an Espada and would be engaging it. As Rukia and Renji appeared next to them, he merely nodded as they dropped onto the roof of the building. In the darkness, it was hard to see exactly where they were, but as Renji blasted through the roof with a Kido, light pulsed outwards from the room. Byakuya motioned for his team to stay outside the room as he flash-stepped in front of his opponent. As he took in the source of the monstrous reiatsu they had been tracking, his eyes widened in shock.


	15. Chapter 15

Shinji scowled as he finally reached the room where his target was. The reiatsu continued to pulse and twist in an admirable simulation of life. The golden light that hung in the air even moved around and paced to simulate movement. Hisagi looked equally disgusted, while Izuru just wore his normal, depressed facial expression. "Let's get out of here. The Espada must have already left.", Hisagi finally said, breaking the silence. Izuru nodded as Shinji turned and looked at them. "Guess we're gonna have to go deal with Yamamoto-jii over this. Great, they're probably already in the Living World." Sighing, the shinigami and vaizard began to dart back to the Fourth Division members. This would be a long day.

_An Few Hours or So Before_

Ulquiorra looked through the three garganta screens he had opened.  
"Szayel, how has your research been progressing?" Ulquiorra asked the pink haired espada, coldly.  
"Why, you're finally taking an interest in me! _Very_ well, actually, I've made a number of interesting advances!" The Octava gasped in faux surprise before continuing, "Could it be? Could it be that the great, much feared _Quatro_ Espada finally needs one of my little toys? Oh, be still my non-existent heart!" Ulquiorra rolled his eyes slightly, which Szayel ignored. "Yes. The shinigami will be invading soon. Are your reiatsu generators able to simulate the presence of Espada?"  
"Of course they are! They are _extremely_ lifelike, what do you think I've been doing in this lab?" Szayel's over the top tone almost concealed the slight, genuine pride at having one of his inventions actually needed as he straightened slightly at the prospect of trying out his 'toys'. "Place five Espada level generators around Las Noches, try to spread them out. Then another fifteen or so lower level generators, cluster them in groups of two to four. Are they weaponized?" He asked again.  
"Not yet, give me a day and I can give them all the equivalent of a human nuclear bomb worth of enhancements!" The eagerness on Szayel's face irritated Ulquiorra somewhat, but he ignored it and shook his head. "We do not have a day. We have an hour, at the most. You should hurry if you want to get all of those generators set up. Once you are done, meet me on the roof of my palace." With that, Ulquiorra closed Szayel's garganta.

Turning to the other two garganta, he continued. "Zommari, Grimmjow. Go gather up the remaining Arrancar and explain the situation to them. Send them out of Las Noches and have them patrol around Hueco Mundo. Once the Shinigami arrive, they are to wait until they enter, then exit Las Noches before coming to the remains of Barragan's court."  
"Why should I do that?" Grimmjow asked, combative as always. "Maybe I should be the one giving the orders, eh Ulquiorra?"  
Again, Ulquiorra rolled his eyes. "If you want to survive, you'll do as I order. Remember, Aizen-sama chose me to be in charge of the Espada in his absence, not you, Sexta." Abruptly, he shut Grimmjow's garganta. Zommari merely nodded in consent and immediately used sonido to start hunting the remaining Arrancar. Ulquiorra shut his garganta as well.

Now, for his own task. Using sonido, he jumped back to the woman's room. She was curled on her bed, seemingly asleep. Sighing, he pressed his cold hand against her shoulder. She mumbled something in her sleep but didn't wake. Gently, he moved his hand up to her face, lightly running it over her cheeks before pulling back and settling on a surer method. Abruptly, he allowed his reiatsu to surge, causing her eyes to flutter open in surprise before he suppressed it once more.

Orihime opened her eyes to find Ulquiorra standing above her. Her cheeks flushed as he watched her sit up quickly, rubbing away the sleep from her eyes. "We are leaving, Inoue-San. You have half an hour to pack anything you want to take with you. Once you have anything, meet me in the training room." Before she could protest, the faint boom of sonido was all that was left in her room. Yawning, she got out of bed and tried to think of anything she wanted to take. Running in her hurry, she tripped on the way to the library, grazing her knees. Ignoring that, she ran faster until she was at the bookshelves. Scanning titles, she grabbed one about Hueco Mundo, another on the principles behind controlling and strengthening reiatsu and one more about Soul Society. Not sure how much time had passed, she jogged to the training room to find Ulquiorra already waiting for her. He was bent over the small container of mod-soul pills. Seeing her, he went into the storeroom and handed her the katana she trained with. It was in a sheath this time, attached to a belt. Nodding in thanks, she buckled it around her waist as he continued to sonido around the room, grabbing odds and ends. Strangely, he also took what looked like a white pillow. "You have all you need?" He asked as he paused for a moment. Slightly dizzy from trying to follow his progress around the room, she nodded again.

"Follow me then." He said, coldly. They walked down to the end of the hallway outside the training room, reaching a flight of stairs that she knew led up to the roof. Taking them two at a time to keep up to him, they finally hit open air. "Why is it so dark out here, now?" She asked in surprise as the fake sun and sky of Las Noches seemed to have vanished. "The sky was produced by a generator that acted off of the Hougyoukou's energy. When Aizen-sama took it away to the living world, the sky disappeared." Calmly, he stood with his hands shoved in his pockets, closing his eyes. She heard him mumble something under his breath as his reiatsu abruptly thinned out and spread. His eyes snapped open again as his reiatsu contracted around him once more. "The others will be here soon. Do not show fear." With that, the boom of sonido sounded once more as an Espada she vaguely remembered from the meeting she had attended appeared.

"Ulquiorra. The Arrancar have dispersed. Grimmjow will be here soon.", Zommari stated. Ulquiorra nodded. Soon, another boom as the blue haired Espada appeared. Orihime remembered him, he had intimidated her at the meeting. Grimmjow sneered at her before turning to Ulquiorra. "Once we leave here, you're going to fight me. I'll show you that I deserve to be Cuatro!", he said angrily. Ulquiorra merely ignored him. "You'll fight me, Ulquiorra. You'll see!" Grimmjow abruptly turned away and glared at the sky. Orihime's hands twitched as she fought the urge to release her shun shun rikka as Grimmjow's killing intent washed over her. Finally, another boom as the creepy pink haired Espada appeared. "All done, right on schedule! Now, where are we going, oh feeling-less leader?", he asked brightly. Despite herself, Orihime felt her mouth twitch as she hid a smile at the flamboyant Espada's tone. Ulquiorra, for his part, seemed bored with the whole thing. "We are going to leave Las Noches. Szayel, I assume you will be able to watch the footage from your cameras from long distances?" He said.  
"_Cameras_? _Me_? Why, I would _never_ place cameras in Las Noches! Though, if I _were_ to place cameras, I would, of course, be able to monitor them via a device carried on my person from any distance! It would be unbearably sloppy to not have such a system in place." Ulquiorra nodded slightly.

"We will be going to wait a distance away from here, then. I know a place that will work for us to stay at temporarily, until the Shinigami leave Las Noches." Ulquiorra sighed, continuing, "I will have to release to carry the woman there, you shall have to follow behind me. Obviously, we will all conceal our reiatsus completely until the Shinigami are gone from Hueco Mundo." Coldly, Ulquiorra looked each Espada in the eyes. Szayel and Zommari looked slightly downwards in respect to his authority while Grimmjow pointedly ignored him.

"Enclose, Murciealago" he whispered as his reiatsu burst outwards and then coalesced around him once more. Lightly, he flexed his wings. "Inoue-San, I will have to carry you." He said. Silently, she stepped into his cold embrace as he held her against his chest. Easily, he leapt into the air and began to fly away from the Hueco Mundo moon. The three other Espada jumped from the roof of his palace and began to follow using sonido. Orihime watched as their small forms appeared and disappeared below her, finally darting over the walls of Las Noches as they left the compound. She considered, briefly, leaving some sort of message for the Shinigami, but... She felt like this was where she was supposed to be. For now, at least, she would stay with Ulquiorra.

**Special Bonus Author Notes! **

So, 15 chapters! What do you guys think so far? Let me know if there are any errors, plot-holes or terribly ooc moments and I'll correct them and try to stop it from happening again! If you don't want to write a review, _message me. _

As for what's happening next, well, I have as much idea as you do at this stage (maybe less). A few certainties exist, however. There will be more romance, I swear! I've kept it pretty low-key (okay, really low-key) so far, because I thougt that was more realistic (I still think that it is, and I'm not sorry either), but it will happen! Bear with me, I promise! As for Grimmjow, he'll get his fight. It'll be interesting to see how that comes out. While Ulquiorra go segunda etapa, will Orihime see any action? The questions, they torment me as much as you, I suspect. If they torment you at all. Also, gotta go deal with the weaker Arrancar. That might be more interesting than you might expect...

Anyway, let me know what you think!

-/- .


	16. Chapter 16

Grimmjow ran beneath Ulquiorra, carefully concealing his reiatsu. Normally, he'd ignore the stupid bat and go fight the Shinigami on his own, but the temptation of finally proving his strength the so-called Cuatro was strong enough to keep him in check...for now, at least. Once he beat Ulquiorra, he'd go back and hunt the Shinigami for fun. He'd just get the girl to heal him if Ulquiorra managed to injure him. Easy. Zommari and Szayel followed behind him as he ran, all of them using sonido to keep up to Ulquiorra. Finally, they hit the ruins of Barragan's court. Ulquiorra dropped out of the sky, still holding the girl. Bored, Grimmjow watched as he carefully set her on the ground, steadying her as she swayed slightly. His disgust for the Cuatro only grew at his careful treatment. He didn't understand why he had bothered to look after her so well. Sure, Aizen wanted her in good condition, but it wasn't like he was that concerned over her welfare.

Ulquiorra used sonido to appear on the top of one of the broken pillars spearing out of the sand around them. "Numeros, Exequias. The Shinigami have invaded Hueco Mundo. We have placed several decoys around Las Noches that should convince them that we have already left for the human world. I wish to avoid conflict for right now, and as Aizen has left me in temporary command of his Arrancar, you will do well to listen. We will stay here until I say otherwise. Do not go further than a kilometre away from where we stand unless I give you permission. Killing each other is expressly forbidden, as is fighting. Violation of the rules will result in imprisonment for as long as I deem necessary." With that, Ulquiorra left the column and reappeared next to the girl. Grimmjow growled slightly under his breath. He knew Ulquiorra could hear him anyway, damn bat senses, but that didn't stop him from cursing.

The bat whispered something to the girl before he walked back to where Grimmjow and the other Espada waited. "Do what you want, so long as you don't attract the attention of the Shinigami or get yourselves killed." He said, coldly. The Espada nodded as Grimmjow ground his teeth.

"What gives you the right to order me around? I'm stronger than you and you know it! Fight me, Ulquiorra! I deserve to be leading, you weakling!" Grimmjow finally exploded. Ulquiorra sighed at his outburst. "When I defeat you, you will not question my authority again, Grimmjow." He said. The girl put her hands to her hairpins and shouted something as a barrier closed them off. Grimmjow smiled with glee as he unsheathed his sword. "Grind, Pantera!" He yelled, going straight into release and rushing Ulquiorra. His tail lashed out as the bat dodged, brushing against Ulquiorra's stomach for a second. The Cuatro's face never changed as he unsheathed his own sword.

Ulquiorra pulled Murcielago from its sheath. Silently, he began to charge a cero as he darted past Grimmjow again. Finally, he struck out towards Grimmjow's legs. As Grimmjow parried his sword, he released the cero at the Sexta Espada's chest. His released form's light plating bore the worst of the blast, but Ulquiorra managed to slip behind him and slice off the tip of his tail. Grimmjow snarled in anger and turned, clawing Ulquiorra's face before the Cuatro shunpo-d away. Finally, Ulquiorra released another cero before whispering, "Enclose, Murcielago." Grimmjow smiled cruelly, ready to finally beat the Cuatro in his release. Suddenly, a massive force slammed into his neck, throwing him to the ground. Ulquiorra stood over him as his vision blurred, holding a green lance of his own reiatsu. Shallowly, Grimmjow panted as he held his hand up to his neck, holding in as much blood as he could before Ulquiorra stepped back again.

"You see that I have won, Grimmjow Jeagerjacquez?", Ulquiorra asked coldly. "Fuck... You..." He panted in reply. The Cuatro nodded slightly as the barrier around them shimmered and changed, rapidly erasing Grimmjow's wounds. Ulquiorra's few gashes had already healed themselves, thanks to the bastard's high-speed regeneration. Grimmjow snarled again as Ulquiorra turned before launching himself at the Cuatro's back, slicing through his jacket before he dodged. "This fight is over, Grimmjow. Accept your loss!" Ulquiorra shouted. Grimmjow just smiled. "It's not over until I say it's over!" He yelled back as he whipped his tail towards Ulquiorra before being blocked by the bastard's wings. He screamed, knocking the Cuatro backwards before sonido-ing behind him and grazing his side with his claws before Ulquiorra dodged again. "Very well, Grimmjow. I will show you that you cannot hope to win against me. Consider this... The beginning of the fight."

Orihime frantically called Santen Kesshun back up as Ulquiorra rose up above Grimmjow. His jacket was hanging in tatters around him, and from behind her shield she couldn't stop her eyes from focussing on his leanly muscled abdomen and the black number 4 on his chest. Every so often, they would stay to the hollow hole at the base of his neck, and she was surprised to find herself no longer repulsed by the changes of his release. His eyes, though rarely turned towards her, were bright in the darkness of Hueco Mundo. Fascinated, she watched as he flew upwards before seeming to grab a green lance out of the air. Faster than her eyes could follow, four lances exploded around Grimmjow, knocking him into their as Ulquiorra swooped down and grabbed him by his neck before slamming him back into the ground. As Grimmjow struggled, shocked by the swift turn of events, Ulquiorra drove his hand deep into Grimmjow's sternum, blood bubbling up around his arm.

Amazingly, Grimmjow managed to raise a hand weakly and release a cero into Ulquiorra's chest, through the Cuatro Espada was barely affected, any damage regenerating within seconds. Ulquiorra stood, and another lance formed in his hand. He pressed the tip of it against Grimmjow's eyes as the cat-like Espada tried to breathe, blood continuing to well up from his chest. "Do you accept your loss, Grimmjow?" Ulquiorra asked, emotionless. "Fuck...next...time...fine." He whispered as Ulquiorra abruptly reverted to his normal, unreleased state. "Woman, come heal him." Ulquiorra ordered her as she meekly released Santen Kesshun and knelt at Grimmjow's side, healing his wounds as Ulquiorra watched on. The Sexta Espada glared at her the whole time, so she hurried as fast as she could. Finally, she stood and walked back to Ulquiorra's side. "Thank you." He whispered in her ear, so softly only she could hear it.

**AUTHOR NOTES **

So, that's that! Ulquiorra beat Grimmjow with relatively little effort, which I thought was fair as Ichigo could win against Grimmjow and Ulquiorra easily beat Ichigo and was winning even before going into segunda etanyway also, I think he's starting to definitely feel something for Orihime, but he isn't really sure what, exactly. Might take something...major, to make him understand, so look forward to that. Also, Orihime's feeling a LOT less like a prisoner now!

Man though, Grimmjow's pissed over losing to Ulquiorra. Still, he might start to show a bit more respect after that fight. Anyway, sorry for the shortness of the chapter but I hope you like it! Keep the reviews coming!

-/- .


	17. Chapter 17

Ulquiorra and Orihime walked away from the Arrancar, both with their reiatsu masked. "You would do well to train some more, now that we are with the other Arrancar. They are often much less…reserved than I. There may come a time when I will not protect you from an attack, and you must be able to hold off the enemy yourself." Ulquiorra stated, softly. Orihime nodded as they entered a small forest of the crystalline trees that were scattered around Hueco Mundo. They walked in silence for a few minutes until they came to a clearing.

"I will attack you. Try to hold me off." Ulquiorra warned her as he disappeared and struck out at her back. "Shiten Koshun!" She shouted as Ulquiorra's strike was blown back at him with pure explosive force, sending him a metre backwards. Lightly, he landed on his feet, a few slight scorch marks on his still bare chest instantly regenerating as he appeared at her side with sonido, kicking her shield with enough force to push her backwards as he disappeared again before getting hit with the explosion. His hand glowed with his own dark reiatsu as he struck her shield again, this time piercing it and grabbing her throat before she could react. She choked, unable to call for Tsubaki as he threw her towards a tree. The wind was knocked out of her as she landed, and her own dress torn by the sharp branches. This time, she unsheathed her katana as he leapt above her, firing a shot of bala towards her stomach. "Shiten Koshun!" she yelled again as the bala was absorbed and thrown back at him.

He dodged, of course, but it still made her smile that she'd forced him to dodge an attack, though she knew he could have taken it and suffered little injury of his own. Abruptly, he dropped behind her and she whirled to face him, swinging the katana at his chest. He reached out and grabbed the sword before disappearing again. She gasped as she felt the steel press against her throat as Ulquiorra's body pressed up against hers. His other arm circled around her waist, pulling her tight against him. His chin rested on top of her head as he whispered, "Dead." Still, he held her. Strangely, she felt herself relaxing against his chest, as he breathed in and out, and memories flashed through her head.

Ulquiorra held the woman against him tightly. He felt her tense body relax as he held her, as he fought the urge to drop the katana and stroke her long, bright hair. Suddenly, he felt her breathing change and hitch, and she was crying. Reluctantly, he loosened his grip on her, but to his surprise, she turned and pressed her head against his chest as she wept. Gently, he threw the katana away and held her, careful not to press to hard. Gently, he ran his hand threw her hair as her tears ran down his chest.

As memories of Tatsuki comforting her like this after Sora died flashed through her mind, Orihime could only cry more. Flashes of all the friends she had left behind for this cold, empty life in Hueco Mundo, where the only flashes of colour belonged to those who should be her enemies were all she could see as she cried. She waited, sure Ulquiorra would leave, disgusted at her for showing this much emotion around him, but to her surprise he kept holding her. Strangely, even as a bitter smile cut through her face, her tears continued to fall. Ulquiorra, cold as he might seem, comforting a weak human… She wondered what he must be thinking right now. Slowly, she pulled herself together again, acknowledging the memories and discarding them. Her friends were safer with her here, now. Here, she could try to protect Soul Society from another invasion. Eventually, her tears slowed and stopped as she looked up at Ulquiorra's empty face. "Thank…you." She whispered as he looked down at her. For a moment, she stared into his cold eyes as they flashed with an unexpected warmth so quickly she wondered if she'd imagined it. "You…are welcome, Inoue." He said, softly.

Slowly, he waited until the redness in Orihime's eyes had faded, unwilling to allow the others to see signs of her weakness. Finally, when he could no longer tell that she had been crying, he knelt down to the ground and used his pesquisa to check the reiatsus of the Arrancar. Normally, he wouldn't have to kneel to see where they were, but as their reiatsus were all repressed he had to search harder to find them. _Good. The Shinigami will never find us through sheer reiatsu sense_, he thought. Judging by the stability and smoothness of the majority of their reiatsus, they must be sleeping. Useful for him. Gently, he took Orihime's hand and pulled her to himself again, embracing her as he used sonido to return to the Arrancar-filled court.

Szayel smiled cruelly as he watched Ulquiorra's return. He had made sure to bring all of his fracciones with him, despite the annoyance that they often triggered in the other espada, and himself. They whispered his name in the lovestruck devotion unique to his fraccione. Then, his fraccione were unique in many ways. The brainwashing he had forced upon them, combined with numerous procedures on their brains before they had been made Arrancar made them loyal to a fault. Still, the constant whispering of his own name tended to irk him somewhat, but with Ulquiorra's iron rule, he doubted he could get away with reiatsu-slamming them as he normally he would. Sighing, he turned away from the slight figure of the Cuatro and scanned for strong hollow in the area. _Might as well try to capture some more specimens, after all._ Still, nothing piqued his interest. Sighing again, he motioned for one of his fraccione to lay down on the ground. The thing's soft body would make a wonderful pillow for the night.

Orihime stepped out of Ulquiorra's arms after a second. "I suppose I should try to sleep…" she said, awkwardly. He nodded before answering, "Yes. There is a place over there that looks…suitable." pointing towards a slight depression in the ground behind a pillar that seemed sheltered from Hueco Mundo's perpetual wind. Slowly, she walked over towards it before lying down. Before she slept, she called out Soten Kisshun to heal the numerous scratches and bruises on her, and fix the tears in her dress.

Ulquiorra could sense the humiliated Grimmjow sleeping a ways apart from the other Arrancar as he carefully kept track of the barely-there masked reiatsus surrounding him. He could feel Orihime's own human reiatsu, so different from the Arrancar with ease, and he made sure to check that no Arrancar were going in her direction every few minutes. He was perched on top of a column, and every so often he would open his eyes and check for approaching sandstorms and the like. Still, the night was peaceful, and eventually he slipped into his soul world.

**AUTHOR NOTES**

So, Ulquiorra's going to go meditate for a bit and see what he can learn about his Shinigami side. That's actually going to be fun to write, and I do apologize for not bringing back his soul world for so long! I know, I know, you totally thought I had forgotten about it, didn't you?

As for Orihime, well. I think that the change in routine, combined with the trigger of Ulquiorra holding her (though admittedly with a sword at her throat) finally triggered a real realization of all that she had given up. In the anime and the manga, her friendship with Tatsuki is often downplayed and ignored, but I think that she would really miss her, as they were best friends. Maybe even more than Ichigo, especially as she knows that Ichigo will have returned to Soul Society and can protect himself, despite his memories being gone.

That reminds me, did anyone else get _really confused_ over how that little parakeet kid could have memories of his past but none of the Shinigami do? I rationalized it as a side effect of the high reiatsu the souls that eventually became Shinigami have a few chapters back, as that's the only explanation I could come up with. Still, bit of a mystery.

Anyway, let me know what you thought of this chapter! Seriously, even a sentence via inboxing would be **much appreciated**! Look, I bolded it, that's how much I would appreciate it.

-/- .


	18. Chapter 18

As Ulquiorra opened his eyes, the dead forest sprung up around him. Strangely, the usual mist that covered the treetops had cleared, and a clear moon shone overhead in its place. The sight of the moon lightened his mood somewhat as the two spirits stepped out in front of him. "_Have you come to learn about the other half of your power, Ulquiorra?"_ Asked the Shinigami. _"I have."_ He replied. Murcielago nodded his assent and flew away.

"_Then, let us begin. My power is not like that of a hollow's, it cannot be understood and mastered through instinct alone. Once you discover it, you have to practice and learn about it." _Ulquiorra nodded, drawing his sword. The Shinigami frowned. _"No. Your sword is not a zanpakto, it is your hollow strength. I will not teach you with something that goes against my own core." _Ulquiorra frowned as Murcielago immediately vanished from his hip, reappearing in the Shinigami's hand. _"Now, see if you can beat me, without relying on your hollow powers."_ The Shinigami immediately appeared behind him, forcing Ulquiorra to dodge with sonido, only to find that sonido no longer worked. For the first time in a long time, the Cuatro espada's eyes widened in shock as the Shinigami sliced his arm with Murcielago. Turning, he tried to block the next attack, this time succeeding in only receiving a bruise on his forearm as he slammed it into Murcielago's guard. Stepping in, he slammed his palm against the Shinigami's chest, recognizing that without his hierro, he wouldn't be able to pierce skin with his bare hands.

The Shinigami was clearly not trying, lazily using shunpo to avoid his attacks and land light blows, taunting him. Ulquiorra grit his teeth, his arm still bled without high-speed regeneration. _How inconvenient…How can I win with only Shinigami powers that I do not know how to use?_ He thought, irritably. Still, his reflexes were good enough that he could, if not dodge, at least negate most of the damage from the Shinigami's attacks. His mind worked coldly as he fought on autopilot, trying to find a way that he could attack. So far, there was none.

The Shinigami laughed as he so easily fought the one who had ignore him for so long, his emerald eyes flashing with glee. Black hair flew around him as he twisted effortlessly through the air, slamming his feet into Ulquiorra's arm as the Arrancar blocked his strike. The face of his opponent was, as always, empty and cold. Angry with the lack of response and bored with the battle, he leapt up into a tree. He knew only one Kido spell, thanks to Ulquiorra's limited number of fights with Kido-using Shinigami, and he began to chant the incantation as Ulquiorra's eyes widened fractionally, recognizing what he was doing. _"Kido number 54, Haien!"_ The Shinigami shouted, as the fireball exploded outwards, Ulquiorra barely able to dodge as his sleeves were singed by the blast. The Shinigami laughed hysterically, his boredom was over- Ulquiorra would never leave here.

Ulquiorra nearly smiled as the Shinigami threw the kido towards him. Finally, something he could _use_. Guessing at what to do, Ulquiorra grabbed at his mask and concentrated, removing it and throwing it at the Shinigami to distract him. He couldn't keep it off for long, but long enough to hold his own hands in front of him and aim, shouting the Kido and blasting the same fireball back at his Shinigami counterpart. Almost as soon as the slightly green-tinged fire left his palms, the mask reappeared back on his head. The Shinigami laughed again, though its hair had caught on fire and filled the clearing with a rather unpleasant smell. _"So, you figured it out! I didn't think you would, actually, but I'm impressed! Now, we can have a real fight, if you can keep that mask off for a bit longer!"_ Ulquiorra nodded, his mouth twitching upwards in a near-grin as he tore the mask off once more, this time trying something new.

Focussing his reiatsu towards his feet, he leapt at the Shinigami with shunpo. Again, he let off the hado, yelling the name of it at the last second as the fireball blasted into the Shinigami's head, burning away the rest of its hair and skin. He flipped backwards in the air as the shockwave blew him backwards, landing crouched on the forest floor as hysterical, distorted laughter echoed around him. The Shinigami's face regenerated, as did his hair. "_Guess you won, Ulquiorra. Keep practicing without that mask, and maybe next time you see me we can have a real fight, and I won't need to hold back! Any questions, friend?" _ "_No."_

As the laughter echoed around him, Ulquiorra opened his eyes again to look out at the horizon.


	19. Chapter 19

Orihime walked through the sleeping Arrancar. Even nder Ulquiorra's protection, she wasn't safe, and she knew it, so she was still careful not to wake any of them. Perhaps it was the change in the perfectly crafted routine that she had been used to, but she had woken much earlier than the Arrancar. Not that she was complaining, she hadn't walked on her own for so long. Weeks? It felt like months.

She stifled a giggle as she saw Szayel passed out on a pile of his own fraccione, but jumped and walked off when she saw him stir. Contradictory to his pink hair and flamboyant attitude, he could still kill her without trying. Somewhat disconcerted by the sleepers around her, she looked up at the tops of the columns for Ulquiorra. Sure enough, he was there, sitting cross-legged with his sword across his lap. _Is he trying to commune with it, like Kurosaki-kun used to?_ She wondered, before continuing her walk. She couldn't see if he was awake or not from where she stood, so she ignored him.

Eventually, she reached the edge of the informal camp, long hair blowing in the wind as she found the clearing she and Ulquiorra trained in earlier. Her cheeks turned a bit pink as she thought of how he'd held her when she cried, and she wondered what he'd thought of her.

Standing in the centre, she raised her hands to her hairpins and summoned her sprites outward.

Ulquiorra's eyes opened slowly as he left his soul world, the crazed laughter of the Shinigami still echoing in his head as he sheathed Murcielago, standing atop the pillar. He could sense Orihime training in the clearing, and he nearly smiled. Good that she was trying to improve her combat. Still, if he was careful, she would not have to fight anyone, not where they were going. She, at least, would be safe. Sighing, he looked up at the Hueco Mundo moon. It was the same as it had always been, but he could not help but wonder if he would ever see it again.

Shaking his head at such maudlin thoughts, he dropped from the pillar and sonido-d off to a different clearing, far away enough that the sleeping Arrancar would not be woken by his reiatsu. He had not slept at all, and the training with the Shinigami in his head had made him hungry. Delicately, he sniffed at the air while searching out for relatively strong reiatsus around him that weren't Arrancar. A lone Adjuchas seemed to be hunting some distance away. "Enclose, Murcielago." He stated as his resurreçion washed over him. Wings snapped open and he took to the sky, hunting the Adjuchas as an eagle hunted a mouse.

Orihime argued with her sprites in the clearing, trying to keep her voice down. "Of course, I want to fight! If I didn't, I wouldn't have summoned you here!" She whisper-yelled to Tsubaki.  
"If you really wanted to fight, you wouldn't need to summon me! You would have already figured this out yourself!" He shouted back, not trying to stay quiet.  
"Well, show me how you can help me fight, then!" She growled back at him, angry now. Tsubaki crossed his tiny arms over his chest and rolled his eyes at her. "Work it out yourself! I am you, you idiot! Tell me what to do!"  
"Fine!" She whispered back, staring at her fairies, looking for inspiration.

She already knew that Tsubaki was the only one of them focused on combat, and that Ayame and Shun'O were the two healers. The others were all defence-focused. Suddenly, an idea hit. Her healing, from what Ulquiorra had once explained to her, wasn't really healing so much as rejection of injuries. Maybe she could somehow apply that rejection to something other than healing? Nodding now, her thoughts started to fall into place. If she could distract an enemy long enough with Tsubaki, she might be able to get Ayame and Shun'O to reject the existence of, for example, the enemy's foot or leg, or some other part of their body. Either that, or is she could get them to follow Tsubaki when he attacked an enemy, they might be able to work as a sort of poison dart, following him as he cut through the enemy and rejecting the existence of the enemy's internal structure. _Gruesome...and I don't even know if that would work! I'd need an actual enemy to try that on to see if it would be fast enough to work, and if it didn't, I'd lose the only two sprites capable of restoring the others! Talk about impractical..._

Shaking her head, she decided to ask Ulquiorra for advice later. He might have some ideas that were a bit more practical, and maybe someone not biased by associating the sprites with specific tasks would be able to come up with something more creative. Still, she'd remember that theory, though she'd only try it in an emergency. "Hey, Tsubaki, Ayame, Shun'O..." She explained her idea to them, and they agreed that there was no reason it couldn't work...in theory, at least.

Sighing, she let the sprites return to her hairpieces and left the clearing

The Adjuchas Ulquiorra had found was reasonably strong, and put up a good fight for a few minutes. He could have killed the creature quite easily, but it had to be alive when he took the first bight, and it was too big to easily hold down while he fed. So he waited for it to swing one of the many long appendages the stretched off of it (it seemed rather like a large worm with tentacles that sprouted from above its eyes), before grabbing it and, with unusual ferocity, tearing a thin piece of flesh off and swallowing it quickly. It let out a long, high cry as he ripped more meat off of its tentacle, consuming a fair piece of it quickly before he unsheathed his sword and cut through its bone-white, spiky hollow mask. His stomach, unused to feeding, turned a bit as the thing dissolved into reishi particles. Still, the slight power that flowed through him from it helped to restore his mind from the sleepless nights he had had.

Easily, he jumped back into the air and soared back to the camp.

The other Arrancar would be waking soon.

Author Notes

Sorry for the long time without updates!


	20. Chapter 20

Orihime walked back to the camp, dust rising up behind her. The Arrancar were beginning to stir, and she was careful to avoid the Espada, in particular. A small black speck in the sky began to get larger, and she prayed it was Ulqiorra and not some hollow that wanted a fight. Sure enough, his completed mask caught a bit of moonlight, and she let out a bit of a breath as she followed his flight to a column. He landed beside her, his eyes seeming strangely...bright.

"Ulquiorra...what were you doing?" She asked as he reverted to his normal form. "Hunting." He replied, and she noticed his hands were almost shaking as he shoved them deep in his pockets. Strange.

Ulquiorra's body thrummed with energy from the Adjuchas he had consumed. It had been so long since he had hunted that his body was unused to the sudden influx of energy. His hands were the only sign of it, so he hid his weakness easily. Habitual. Still, he thought he must look a bit strange from the way she looked at him.

"Inoue, we will be returning to Las Noches now. The Shinigami will almost certainly have returned to Soul Society after discovering that we had left."  
She nodded in acceptance as he watched her reactions carefully. Strange, she didn't seem interested in escape, which was intelligent. Her talent would not allow her to open a garganta back to the human world anyway, or communicate to her friends that she was free so they could collect her. Really, she was trapped completely in Las Noches.

Orihime was so tired of this. So tired of these orders and obeying and following, but there was no way out now. She knew as well as Ulquiorra did how very trapped she was. Though she was drawn to stay with him, though she thought she could see glimpses of something more than emptiness in him, sometimes she wondered if she was wrong. It would be so easy to read to deeply into things. "It is my duty to maintain your mental health..." That was what he had said to her before. His duty, his seemingly concrete loyalty to Aizen, how could she ever hope to get him to leave the Espada? It was at that moment that she realized she had given up on hope long ago, but hadn't dared to face it. So, she nodded emptily and embraced him as he jumped up to the column. She watched with cold eyes when he ordered the Arrancar to return. And she felt nothing at all while they flew back to her prison, and her home.

She noticed in a detached sort of way that Ulquiorra seemed to thrum with a foreign reiatsu for a few minutes while they flew, before it was absorbed. So, he truly had been hunting. Orihime wondered why he bothered when he was so strong, what the purpose was in consuming some lowly Adjuchas. She had not forgotten his rank, and his strength.

When he set her down again and called her 'Inoue', she felt a spark of emotion, but not enough to flare into happiness. So she followed him back into the hall without any sort of comment or protest as he asked her to stay in her room, after eating something. She did eat before returning to her room, but the food was as bland as her mind.

Ulquiorra watched the woman leave, his eyes narrowing slightly at her behaviour. It was because of his own emptiness that he could so easily see it in others, and he saw it in her. He would be lying if he said that he only cared due to some vestiges of loyalty towards his creator to keep her mentally stable.

So, he can be forgiven for his slight distraction when a heavily masked and concealed reiatsu approached his palace. It is understandable, that he did not recognize it as any sort of threat until it was already just outside of his charge's room. And we can see that when he realized who the barely-there reiatsu belonged too, and where it was, that he could not have made it even with all of his sonido mastery in time to stop it from entering Orihime's room.

And, of course, Orihime herself was hardly paying attention, and would have assumed that the reiatsu just belonged to a random hollow or Arrancar, not an intelligent being. Certainly, not an intelligent being that she had assumed was still in the real world. Really, that both she and Ulquiorra had assumed was still in the real world, though Ulquiorra had thought that he was dead or captured. Of course, he had had his suspicions that Ichimaru Gin would be slippery enough to escape any consequences of the seemingly unthinkable defeat, but he had never really expected to ever have to deal with the silver-haired Shinigami again.

** Author Notes **

Yeah, I did just bring Gin back. Why? I have honestly no idea. Maybe I should learn to plan my stories...

Anyway, sorry for the short updates lately. I'll try to write things longer next time.


	21. Chapter 21

Ichimaru Gin, smiling as always, pulled himself through Orihime's window lightly. The girl in question seemed to be asleep already, which was a shame. He had really been looking forward to seeing her reaction to his entrance, but now he'd have to wake her up himself. Really, how anticlimactic?

Sighing, he covered her mouth until she gasped and her eyes flew open. She yelped something that was muffled by his hand as he shook his finger. "Now, now, wouldn't want little Ulqui-kun to find me before I'm ready!" He said cheerfully as he pulled her out of bed. She slammed an elbow into his stomach when he pulled her up against himself, and he gasped in surprise and pain. "Hey! That wasn't nice!" He yelped when she twisted in his arms and stomped on his foot. "Quit it!" He said as he pinned her arms together and stepped back slightly, yanking Shinsho out of its sheath and holding it up to her throat, smiling all the while. Just as the cold metal touched her neck, the soft boom of sonido sounded behind him, and he jumped in surprise, a bead of blood forming on Orihime's neck from his movement. "Hey, if it isn't Ulqui-kun! I've missed you!" Gin said, cheerfully as Ulquiorra stood behind him, one hand on Murcielago.

"What are you doing, Gin?" Ulquiorra asked, emotionlessly.  
"Just ensurin' my own survival, of course! You're not gonna try an' attack me while I got a sword against this girl's throat, are ya?" He said, a silent laugh in his words. Ulquiorra felt a rare trace of anger as he looked at the once-Shinigami. Still, he kept his face blank. "Why would I attack you at all? You haven't given me any reason." He countered. Gin seemed to noticeably relax after that, and he let go of Orihime and held Shinso at his side. Ulquiorra cast a quick glance at the woman, anger rising slightly more at the sight of the blood on her throat. A surge of protectiveness for her rippled through him as he saw her shaking in shock. "Are you...okay?" He asked, and she nodded. Good. He didn't really want to fight with Gin, though he was certain he could win in a fight, the resulting carnage would be inconvenient.

"Why are you here? Does Aizen-sama have a task for me?" He asked as the silver-haired Shinigami simply stood and smiled. "What, you don't think maybe I just missed your company, Ulqui-kun?" Gin asked innocently. Sighing, he continued, "You're always _so_ observant, probably why you're his favourite." Ulquiorra didn't bother to acknowledge that statement at all, and Gin shook his head in dismay. "Well, you're actually right about Aizen-sama! Ya see, right now he's stuck underneath the Central 46 building in the Seireitei, _totally_ stuck! Or, at least, that's what they think! Tell me, Ulqui-kun, have ya ever seen Aizen-sama wearin' a black cloak? No? 'Course ya haven't! That's 'cause that cloak makes ya invisible and conceals your reiatsu completely!" Here, Gin threw said cloak at Ulqiorra, who caught it, a blank look on his face.

"So, here's how it's gonna go down, Ulqui-kun! You're gonna sneak into the Seireitei, all covert-like. Aizen-sama's gonna be lettin his reiatsu flare out nice and big so ya can track it and free him! After that, you're gonna escape through a Senkai gate into the living world, then you're gonna open a garganta for Aizen-sama and run along back here! I can't do it, ya see, because only Hollows and Aizen can open up gargantas without a whole buncha equipment and stuff. Oh yeah, and Aizen-sama doesn't want ya takin any other Arrancar in with ya, so ya don't attract attention. You'll need to bring the girl though, 'cause she'll need to reject some stuff in order to free our lord and master."

Ulquiorra looked at Gin coldly, while he thought of a way to turn the situation to his advantage. He hardly wanted to be trapped under Aizen-sama again, having found his freedom he had decided he rather enjoyed it. Well, as much as he enjoyed anything, which wasn't much, really. Still, streaks of loyalty refused to die, so it was with a slight amount of regret that he found himself nodding curtly, helping the woman to her feet. With a practiced snap of his fingers, a garganta opened and he picked the woman up and stepped through it before she could protest, a muffled "Bye bye!" Sounding behind them as the garganta opened into the living world.


End file.
